All This Rain Falling Down
by Georgia Laurel
Summary: Cameron's fellowship is up and there are changes at PPTH that's pushing her further away. Rated M just to be safe and for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

"Oh, fabulous," Cameron groaned under her breath, as her six year old patient with a severe case of gastroenteritis emptied the contents of his stomach onto her lab coat and blouse. "It's ok, Colin," she reassured him in the best maternal voice she could muster. "We'll get you all cleaned up in no time, ok? Just relax sweetheart".

"Can I get a nurse in here, please?" she bellowed, out into the hallway.

"Don't worry, sweetie," she said to him, over the nurses that had now gathered by the little boy's bedside to clean him up. "We're going to get you started on some different medication through your IV tube here, ok? It should make you feel better really soon".

Outside of the window, black clouds began to obscure the warm sunlight that only moments before had been pouring through the blinds. The room rumbled. Rain, Cameron thought to herself.

Quickly her thoughts shifted back to her little patient. To the nurse standing by the foot of his bed, she said, "Page Doctor Foreman if Colin vomits again. I'm going down to shower and change my clothes".

And then she was off, making her way to the elevators.

As Cameron's luck would have it, the elevator she boarded already had several people in it. Cameron stepped inside, smiling at the family of four and two unknown hospital employees and made her way to the farthest corner. She could hear the two children complain to their mother about the smell emanating from Cameron's side of the elevator.

The elevator dinged and luckily for Cameron, the family exited. Unfortunately, for Cameron, two more people stepped in as well as a delivery person with a hand truck loaded high with boxes of medical supplies. Naturally, the side with the most room happened to be where Cameron stood, so he wheeled his cargo over, boxing her into the corner.

"I'm so sorry about this," he said, sheepishly. The service elevator is out and I've got to get these supplies to the OR". Cameron smiled at him, but it really didn't matter. He couldn't see her over the boxes anyway. "Just as well," she thought. "I'm sure I look at bad as I smell". She closed her eyes as the elevator doors slid closed.

"Hold the car!" the booming female voice said as she stepped into the elevator, obviously engrossed in conversation with someone. "Listen, all I'm saying is that you need to be there with me tonight. I've got to go and I want you there. It's time to be seen together, really. I can make it worth you while," the woman's voice was smoky and deep. "I'm thinking a Friday off, less clinic duty, more television time...how am I doing? Think I'll get there?"

"Fine, I'll go, but I'm not wearing the monkey suit. And I spend 80 percent of the time at the bar and 20 percent of it mingling," House's voice shot back. "30 bar, 70 mingling," she countered. "40/60," House one upped her. "Deal," she said, and laughed softly. "Good Lord!" House said, loudly looking down towards the floor for the offensive odor. "What is that smell?"

"Listen," she said, ignoring his outburst as her eyes roamed around the crowded elevator searching for faces she recognized. "I meant what I said about the terms of her fellowship. Just tell her already! Rip it off like a band-aid. It will be a lot easier on everyone that way".

House exhaled loudly, voicing his displeasure in the topic and the choice of her last words.

"I know you don't like change, so if it makes it any easier…" she continued. "Tell her some story about how I'm looking for some additional dollars for the Immunology department, but don't make it sound too promising. Besides, it'll make her more eager to help you find her replacement".

"This is a bad idea, I should have never let you talk me into this," House's voice was aggravated and deep.

The floor bell dinged and the elevator bumped to a stop. "You should call Housekeeping and get them to scrub down that puke box, before somebody passes out in there, Cuddy," House said, as they exited.

"Ok, I've got a meeting," Cuddy said, disregarding his comment while straightening the rumpled collar of House's shirt. "And, you'll take care of that little business _today _and be on time tonight?", she asked.

"Whoa, whoa excuse me there folks. Don't want to run you down," the delivery person's voice interrupted their conversation as he attempted to back out of the elevator. Signaling she was all done with him, Cuddy waved to House and turned to make her way to her office.

"Thank you so much, Miss. Oh, Doctor. I'm sorry, I didn't see your badge there. You were a real sport to be pushed all the way into the corner like that. I'm sorry for the inconvenience," the delivery person blushed, before turning his payload in the direction of the OR.

House's head snapped up and he turned back around to face the elevator, meeting her gaze directly. "No problem," Allison Cameron said softly, a black duffel bag hung from her shoulder. Her lab coat and blouse clearly caked with fresh vomit and a look on her face that made House's heart fall to his stomach.

The elevator doors slid closed with a gentle thump.

The women's locker room had been virtually empty when she walked in. She had nodded sympathetically to one doctor who was changing from blood splattered street clothes into scrubs by her locker. She quickly made her way to the other side of the room to get out of her vomit soaked blouse and lab coat. Although she wasn't squeamish about being thrown up on, she never quite got used to the curdling smell that only seemed to worsen the longer it lingered.

"Well, there's a $70 blouse I'll never get to wear again," she mumbled aloud, as she peeled the sticky garment from her back, throwing it in a small pile at her feet. She'd have to rinse that out at the sink later and see if it was salvageable.

She grabbed two towels from the linen bin that stood behind her and wrapped one around her body while she carefully pulled off her bra and panties. Working quickly, she picked up her panties and stockings and shoved them into her bag. Her trousers seemed to have escaped the fate of her blouse so she neatly folded them lengthwise and laid them on the top of her bag.

She gave her long hair one quick twist and snapped a large comb around it, securing it onto to the back of her head. All but a few strands escaped and fell down her back. Allison Cameron let out a huge sigh and turned towards the showers.

The shower floor was cool beneath her feet and she shivered as the water lightly fell onto her body like rain. She had been too impatient to let the temperature warm to a comfortable level. Slowly, the water began to heat up and she felt the kinks in her shoulders and neck start to unravel.

She pressed her finger to the soap dispenser and began to smooth the silky liquid between her palms. Not having a washcloth, she made a point to scrub unusually hard over her chest and between her breasts where the vomit had seeped through to her skin from her blouse. Luckily, the generic soap had a light flowery smell to it as opposed to the normal hospital antiseptic ones she was used to.

The steam from the shower enveloped her like big clouds as she stood there lost in her thoughts about the last ten minutes in the elevator. Her stomach was doing summersaults, her mind reeling. House and Cuddy were together? And as if that weren't bad enough, she wanted Allison's fellowship ended. Immediately, it appeared.

Her belly ached. Suddenly, the smell of Colin's vomit resurfaced and she felt herself gag.

"So this is what you do when you're not answering pages from your boss," the low, dusky voice said, from the other side of the shower curtain.

Cameron froze. Instinctively she turned her back towards the shower curtain and her hands rose to cover her breasts. "House?" she bellowed.

"What the hell are you doing here? I'm in the shower… in the women's locker room," her voice was shaky and agitated.

"Well, obviously. I'm crippled, but I'm not blind".

Cameron dropped one protective hand long enough to turn the handle for the shower off and then extended it out from the corner of the shower curtain towards the direction of House's voice.

"My towel, House," she said, as she waited for the excuse he was sure to give her for not handing it to her quickly.

House was seated on the long wooden bench just outside the shower. His long legs were stretched outwards in front of him, the toes of his Nike's just inches away from the bottom of the shower curtain separating him from Cameron.

He eyed the towel sitting next to him, slowly picking it up and fingering it. Cameron's hand shook, her fingers splayed out impatiently. "House!" it sounded more like a plea that a command.

"So, just how long did you think it would be before we talked about the end of your fellowship? Or were you hoping I'd forget about it?" Should I forget about it?"

House's voice was calm as he ignored her hand which had slowly dropped in defeat. He could hear Cameron let out a dramatic sigh of exasperation. "House, it's cold in here-- the towel, please?"

"Not from where I'm sitting. Kind of steamy, actually," his voice was just the right mix of mockery and sarcasm that normally made her eyes roll in her head. "And the view from out here is way better than what I'm forced to look at in the Men's locker room," he said, as he winked and flashed a sly grin to a young woman clutching at her towel as she quickly tried to exit the shower stall next to Cameron's.

The visual reference sent Cameron's thoughts back to the time she had found House sitting on a locker room bench similar to the one he was on now. The exception being, of course, that he was hallucinating on LSD to rid him of a self induced migraine while their patient still remained undiagnosed, not skulking as he was now. She instantly recalled the hollow feeling of concern and disappointment in him and how badly it had caused her stomach to ache.

She hadn't allowed herself to go to those thoughts in quite some time.

"House, quit kidding around. If you give me my towel, I'll come out and get dressed and we can discuss it where ever you want. But, not here". She ran her hands up and down her arms and shoulders to smooth away the goose bumps that were now forming as the last few beads of water slid down her body.

A small, white cloth sailed over the top of the shower stall and landed at her feet. Cameron picked it up quickly, praying it was at least a hand towel, just folded very tiny. As she unfolded it, she rolled her eyes seeing it that it was only a thin washcloth.

Grateful for that rather than nothing at all, she began to soak up the water on her chest, arms and finally legs before pressing the too small cloth flat against her breasts.

"You can come out. No one is stopping you," he goaded her. "Personally, I don't see what the big deal is. We _are_ doctors and this is the doctor's shower room…" his voice swirled and droned in her head making her more and more angry by the second.

This was so typical of how he always treated her. Teasing, mocking. One minute making her feel crazy for ever thinking he had feelings for her and the next minute being inappropriate and blatantly suggestive. He always pushed her to the brink and then chastised her for teetering there. He called her weak and pathetic no matter how much she had changed to the contrary.

"He couldn't be that bored," she mused. "He certainly couldn't be at a loss for distractions or companionship since now he was with Cuddy".

Ah, Cuddy. She was just another humiliation for Cameron to endure. Rumor had it that before House had gotten shot, Cuddy was looking for a sperm donor and had enlisted House in helping her weed out bad donor profiles. Cameron had seen him poring over some of the files one night that she had stayed late. She had wondered how long it would take Cuddy to consider House since it was all but confirmed Wilson had made her list, but not the cut.

Cameron leaned her forehead against the wet tile stall. The chill on her skin had been replaced by anger which warmed her from her stomach to her cheeks. What a complete fool she had been.

She thought of the week she sat _and_ slept by House's bedside after he'd been shot. She would wait until everyone had gone and then come back and sleep in the chair next to him, afraid if she left for one night; he would wake and be alone. Or worse, that he would die.

Cuddy had been protective of him too, but Cameron hadn't read too much into it. She had scolded Cameron for spending too much time in House's room and not enough on their other patients.

In one rare outburst, Cameron surprisingly stood up to Cuddy. She couldn't help but feel that since House had sent Stacey away and since Foreman got ill, she and House had worked better together. They'd relied on one another more and seemed to share more personal moments, just the two of them without someone (_her_) getting shot down. She felt like she deserved to be by his side. She was his friend not just his employee and she told Cuddy so.

But, after that confrontation with Cuddy, Cameron had started coming to sit with House in the wee hours of the morning only. The nurses had felt sorry for her and taken to running interference for her if they saw Cuddy step off the elevator. Just before the sun would come up, they would wake her and send her on her way a few minutes before the day shift would come in.

Still, Cuddy was House's physician after all and she was the one that he asked for while he laid on the Emergency Department gurney, not her. Cameron would never have believed that less than two months after the shooting, House and Cuddy would be together. Were they working on trying to have a baby, Cameron thought to herself, her lip beginning to curl downward around the edges.

And so now it had all come full circle. It made perfect sense to her why Cuddy was being protective of House's care in the hospital. More importantly, it explained why she was so eager to seal the closure of Cameron's fellowship.

She didn't have to look up the ending date. Cameron knew the remaining number of days left in her contract by heart. It was to expire in five weeks and Cuddy obviously expected Cameron to help House line up new candidates for her replacement.

Chase had asked for a leave of absence for psychological counseling immediately following the shooting so technically his fellowship, while long expired, was safely tied up in Legal under the auspices of Worker's Comp issues.

Cameron finally broke the silence.

"House, we've always known this was just a two year fellowship. I won't lie to you and say I'm happy about leaving here (_you; leaving you, she thought_), but I think Lisa's made it pretty clear how limited my options are".

"She's right," she said, choking back a sob. "It's over. Time to move on".

And then, with all the chutzpah she could muster, she slid the shower curtain to the side and stepped out of the shower to stand by his outstretched legs. The tiny washcloth lay discarded at her feet.

In thinking of that moment later in her life, Cameron wished she had been able to snap a picture of House's expression as she stood before him.

"God, you're weak," she said, flatly as she bent slightly at the waist over his cane to retrieve her long sought-after towel. Her small, but perfectly symmetrical breasts swayed slightly from the downward motion. Her nipples were hard and erect from the cold. And when she stood back up, wrapping the towel around her, she noted she'd never really recalled his mouth ever being open for so long without a witty remark flying out of it.

"Close your mouth before it freezes like that. Cuddy will wonder what you've been up to," and with that she turned on a beautiful heel and began to walk away.

"Now who's pathetic?"she proudly said aloud, as she brushed away a defiant tear from her lashes.

Cameron had changed into a clean bra and panties as well as a spare pair of jeans and tight fitting v-neck red sweater. She laughed at the irony of the sweater she had thrown into her bag at the beginning of the week. It was the same sweater she had been wearing the day House gave himself the migraine and she found him hallucinating in the shower room.

She grabbed a fresh towel from the bin and wrapped her vomit stained blouse and bra within it and shoved the ball of terrycloth into her bag. She threw the strap onto her shoulder and stretched her neck out to where she'd left House.

He was sitting in the same position with the same expression on his face. He hadn't moved one muscle. It was if he had been carved out of wood and set there to guard something that was already lost.

"Goodbye, House," she said, softly to herself.

She popped her iPod ear buds into her ears and walked out the door. Patty Griffin's haunting voice filled her head as she walked straight and tall into the lobby, opened her umbrella and walked out the door.

_It's hard to listen to a hard hard heart_

_Beating close to mine_

_Pounding up against the stone and steel_

_Walls that I won't climb_

_Sometimes a hurt is so deep deep deep_

_You think that you're gonna drown_

_Sometimes all I can do is weep weep weep_

_With all this rain falling down_

_Strange how hard it rains now_

_Rows and rows of big dark clouds_

_Well I'm holding on underneath this shroud_

_Rain_

_It's hard to know when to give up the fight_

_Some things you want will just never be right_

_It's never rained like it has to-night before_

_Now I don't wanna beg you baby_

_For something maybe you could never give_

_I'm not looking for the rest of your life_

_I just want another chance to live_

_Strange how hard it rains now_

_Rows and rows of big dark clouds_

_Well I'm still alive underneath this shroud…..Rain_


	2. Chapter 2

Gregory House wasn't sure how long he had been sitting in the women's locker room staring at the spot where Allison Cameron had once been standing before him. He couldn't quite process that she had she had called his bluff, baring her body and ultimately her soul to him and then simply walked away. The beauty of her body having been only slightly eclipsed by her bravery, he thought. He was taken aback by the immediate sensations she had started within his own body, a series of mental and physical chain reactions that rendered him completely immobile.

Slowly, as if coming up from the bottom of a deep pool, he could hear the muffled voices of women floating about him as he sat in a stunned silence. His internal voices of self respect and self preservation told him to get up and walk out, but he remained defiantly frozen. Disbelief and regret washed over him in waves and he realized something he hadn't felt in a long time had settled in the pit of stomach…loss.

Finally finding his legs, he stood and turned towards the exit. He never saw the strange glances or heard the mocking strings of laughter as he opened the door and walked out.

Lisa Cuddy looked impatiently around the room packed with important looking, rich people just waiting for an excuse to drop some of their cold hard cash on a worthy cause like Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. She nodded in acknowledgment to the immaculately dressed man and his wife as they made their way across the room to talk with her.

This is what Dr. Lisa Cuddy did best, talk about her most prized accomplishment, her hospital. In less than five minutes, she had espoused the strength of their cutting edge cancer treatment programs and clinical trials, their nationally ranked surgical teams and one world renowned Diagnostician and his team that was putting that department at PPTH in the same fraternity as Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic. Two minutes after that, she had a check in her hand for $10,000.

But at the moment, what she thought she wanted more and didn't have was any idea what to do about was Gregory House. Despite all her annoying reminders and chiding throughout the day, he was still late. His cell phone had been turned off and no one had seen him on the fourth floor or the clinic for hours.

Just as she was starting to make a break for a quiet corner to try her luck at paging him, she spotted James Wilson walking into the room. Quickly, Lisa made her way over to him, dispensing pleasantries along the way to faces she hardly know but needed to be getting to know better. She hated that she was so distracted by Greg House and his disregard for how important this evening was to her.

"Well, Dr. Cuddy don't you look especially stunning this evening," James Wilson said, flashing his trademark shy smile. "Been dipping your hands in any deep pockets?" he asked, as he stared at the folded check in her hand.

"Well, not as many as I'd like to. Have you seen House tonight?" she asked impatiently, as she glanced down yet again at her diamond encrusted wristwatch. "No. But let me guess, he's missing in action after swearing he'd be here on time?" Wilson almost felt badly for her, but if anyone should have known what they were getting into before starting an affair with Greg House, it should have been Lisa.

Wilson eyed her intently trying to discern if the look on her face was more of worry or agitation. Their sudden interest in one another following the shooting didn't shock him, but he had to admit it deflate his ego a bit. Even though he had no business jumping into another relationship so soon after his divorce, he had been flattered by Cuddy's dinner invitation. Once he pieced together strings of idle gossip overheard from various nurses, he suspected she was looking for the necessary 'Y' component to make a baby. That, he had to admit, titillated him even more than he could have imagined.

"Don't say it," she shot off at him. Choking back a laugh and trying to control the urge to grin he replied, "I wasn't going to say a thing. I'm just as concerned as you are as to what could have happened to the good doctor. Frankly, it's shocking".

"Shut up and mingle," she said, curtly. "Mingling, right. I'm on it," he said, as he walked away to find the beverage service.

In the cramped driver's seat of his Corvette, House sat watching the parade of couples in formal clothing make their way in and out of the college's Cultural Center building. This was an important fundraising event for Lisa. A local artist who had been a cancer patient at the hospital was showing a collection of her work, donating most of the proceeds to the Cancer Wing and PPTH as a gesture of her gratitude for saving her life.

Lisa, he knew, would be in her element having scores of warm bodies to talk endlessly to about her hospital. But almost as importantly, she had hoped to use the evening's events as an opportunity to present themselves as a couple to their colleagues. The idea chafed at him worse than the stiff collar of his dress shirt.

Whatever was or wasn't going on between them was private. It didn't need to be the business of anyone, especially people he barely knew and didn't respect. Other than the fact that she had an amazing body and the sex was great, he wasn't even sure how he really felt about her and after seeing Cameron like that today, he knew he needed time to figure out what the hell he was doing. What ever happened tonight, he had the distinct feeling it wasn't going to end well.

He sighed, looking at his watch and reached over into the passenger seat to pull up a brown paper bag. He slid the bottle of scotch out carefully and twisted off the cap, breaking the seal which fell in tiny pieces into his lap. Cameron's image had been playing itself over and over in his brain and he tilted his head back to take one large pull from the contents of the bottle to try and wash those pictures away.

Another swig, another look at his watch. No way around it now, he thought to himself. "She'll be good and pissed about this," he mumbled, as he dragged the back of his hand across his lips. "What am I doing? What have I done?" he said, as he realized those were two independent thoughts pertaining to two entirely different people. He roughly reached for his cane, pulling it from the floorboard of the passenger seat and levered himself out of the sports car. Within a few minutes he fell in step with the other well dressed people entering the Cultural Center.

"Would you excuse me for just a moment, please," Cuddy asked in her most cordial voice, her eyes settling on the tall, brooding looking man that had just entered the gallery. Almost too eagerly, she made her way through the crowd to where House was pretending to admire one of the works of art.

"Oh, here we go," he said, under his breath as the image of Lisa's thin, tall figure and dark hair crept into his peripheral vision. "House!" she said, breathlessly and pulling the sleeve on his jacket. "Where have you been? The gallery opened over an hour ago. You promised you were going to be on time". House nodded insincerely and smiled at a couple who eyed them with curiosity.

"I was thirsty and stopped off for a drink," he said, flatly. "I can see that" she said, smelling the unmistakable aroma of Scotch and vicodin on his breath. Conceding that this was not a battle she wanted to pursue, Lisa Cuddy quickly changed the subject. "Listen," she said, as she nuzzled her ruby stained lips next to his ear. "Be a good boy tonight and play nice. Don't look bored, don't order more than one drink at a time and _please_ try to mingle" she said in a maternal voice.

House shot her his best pained look. "Are we still on the clock or off? I forget," he said, disapprovingly and walked off in search of Wilson and the open bar.

Three and a half hours later, the evening had mercifully drawn to a close. House reflected that he didn't mingle or stray too far from the bar. He did manage to order only one drink at a time, even though they were consumed minutes within one another. But then again, he didn't cause any heartburn for Lisa by being disruptive. Wilson had stayed close sensing that something was troubling his already overly troubled friend. Although after several hours, (and too many vodka tonics) he was still unable to draw out the cause of House's ailments.

Cuddy was taking care of last minute gratuities for the servers before she finally came over to where House and Wilson now sat in two obscenely overstuffed leather chairs near the front door.

"So, was it a successful night?" Wilson asked, as he tried to look casual in a chair that was swallowing him one limb at a time.

"Well, we received enough to launch the two new Leukemia suites in the Cancer Centre and still have enough left over to cover a couple of Greg's future legal expenses," she playfully said, as she carefully removed two painful looking gold earrings from her ears while simultaneously pushing House's arm off the chair with her hip so that she could perch there.

"Then I'd say that was four hours well spent," Wilson remarked, as he struggled valiantly to extract himself from the man-eating chair. "What do you guys say…anyone up for a nightcap over at Le Monde's?"

Lisa was quick to chime in. "Sure, I could go for…"

"Nope," House cut her off. "Thanks, though. I've got a lot going on at work tomorrow and these things always wear me out. I think I'll just call it a night". Then turning to a stunned Cuddy, he said softly, "Let me drive you home".

"See you in the morning, Jimmy. Have fun with your _nightcap,_" he shot back, glancing over at a striking yet distressed young woman dressed in a revealing little black dress waiting by the door.

Seeing the object of House's gaze, Wilson dropped the normal exchange of parting pleasantries and made a bee-line for the door. "Night," he said quickly, over his shoulder.


	3. Chapter 3

Cuddy was still a bit miffed about not getting to relax at Le Monde's with her favorite drink, an apple martini, but assumed it was House's way of apologizing for the evening and quickly accepted the suggestion to go home. "House, what about your car?" she asked, as she handed him her keys from her handbag. "You don't want to leave it here all night do you?"

"I'll get it later," he said, not looking at her, but instead pretended to be searching the parking lot for her vehicle. They rode the entire ten minute trip to Cuddy's house in silence, save for the occasional grunt House made while searching for a song he liked on the stereo.

At her front door, he unlocked it with her key and held it open for her to enter first. Lisa Cuddy's house was warm and cozy. Quite the contrast from the person she projected to be at work.

House felt comfortable there but their relationship to this point had really been about the sex. He didn't linger longer than he had to afterwards, always using his leg or his rat as an excuse to head back home. And, he never had invited her over to his townhouse.

Once inside, Lisa removed her coat and handbag, tossing them on the arm of a beautiful and no doubt very expensive, over stuffed chenille chair. She never noticed that House hadn't sat down or taken off his jacket. She called out from the kitchen something about having a drink. "Wine?" she said, emerging from the kitchen holding two wine stems in one hand and a bottle of Riesling in the other.

"No, thanks Lisa. I think I'm going to head on home," House said softly, from his place by the door. Lisa froze in her tracks, her smile evaporating on her mouth. "You're not staying?" she asked, incredulously.

"Look, if it's about tonight, I was out of line. You felt like I treated you like an employee, and you're right. You didn't deserve that. You know how I get worked up about those fundraising things. I lost my head, I'm sorry Greg," she said, setting the glasses down on the coffee table and pouring them half full of the cold white liquid from the bottle, assuming all was forgiven.

"You don't have to apologize, but I'm not staying," his voice was low and soft. "I just really want to go on home".

Setting the bottle down gently on the coffee table, Cuddy regrouped her thoughts. "Oh, come on. Your car is halfway across town. What'cha going to do, walk home?" she laughed, to herself. "Now, I'm sure we can find something interesting to do," she said, as she pressed her lean and incredibly tight body up against his. She began to grind her hip and pelvis into the center of his trousers. Her hands reached up behind his neck and began to wander through his hair before he grabbed her wrists with both his hands, pulling them down to her sides.

"Lisa, please don't make me say it another way. I can't do this tonight".

"Ok, we don't have to do anything tonight. We'll do whatever you want," she said, as her hand moved from her side back up to his chest" With the slightest hint of desperation in her voice, she whispered, "Just stay with me tonight, all right?"

"Lisa," House said, as he placed a tender kiss on the top of her head. "Sit down, let's talk".

Lisa could feel the emptiness of her stomach rise and fill the back of her throat. Oh God, she thought to herself and held her breath.

"One would think," House began. "That I would be good at saying this," his eyes looked down at the floor briefly before lifting to meet hers dead on. "I don't think this is going to work out-- this thing between us. I don't want to hurt you, but I know I am and I'm sorry".

"Jesus!" she let slip out, almost embarrassingly. "What? What the hell happened today to get you to this point?" her eyes pored over him until a light of understanding went off in her head.

"You spoke to Cameron, didn't you? And, let's see…she played the victim, laying it on thick about how hurt she is and how much she's always wanted you? She'd probably do anything, say anything to keep her job so that she can still see you everyday and pine away for you. How am I doing so far? Pretty close? I know that look, House, you're feeling guilty. God, you're so stupid! She totally manipulated you".

"No," House cut her off, defensively. "It wasn't like that. This has to do with me," his voice was agitated and raw. His right hand flew up to his temple as if to painfully stop a thought from flying out. "I just don't feel the way I did two months ago. The high of getting a second chance--cheating death, has worn off. I'm back in my normal skin with my familiar, pessimistic thoughts. And, it feels right. I feel like me again and it's _this_ that doesn't feel the same".

"So, all of this has to do with some epiphany you had between 4:30 and 6:30 tonight? And, none of this has to do with Cameron?" her eyes were wide and accusatory. Her chest rose and fell dramatically with each breath she took.

"I told you, she's done nothing. Look, I did what you wanted. She's leaving next month and I'll hire someone new. She handled it with nothing but class," he said, quietly. "We're the ones that fucked her over".

The stood silent for a moment each consumed with thoughts too clumsy to express. "House," she said lightly, breaking the silence. "It doesn't have to be this way. We don't have to decide anything tonight. I can come over to your place. I've been selfish asking you to always stay here. Let me just grab some things. We'll have a few drinks and forget about tonight".

"Lisa," his voice was low and eyes were so intense she thought she felt herself stagger backwards in her footing. "I told you months ago that this is what I'd turn out to be, that this is what I do. And, you said you'd be ok with that if that's how it turned out. I'm sorry". And with that he turned and walked out her front door as she sank into the chair by the coffee table.

He stood for a moment on her porch before reaching into his breast pocket and pulling out his cell phone. As he moved down the steps and onto the sidewalk she heard his voice. "Yes, this is Dr. House. I need a cab at 115 Warren Crescent. Great, thanks".

Inside the house, Lisa Cuddy polished off both glasses of wine and began to sob.

House had the cab driver drop him off at the Cultural Center. Not surprisingly, his car was the only one in the lot. He handed the driver a twenty dollar bill and waved him off as the driver tried to give him back his change. "Thanks, Doctor. Have a great night". "Yeah, you too," House said, as he turned to make his way to his car.

Cameron woke up the next morning slightly hung over. She rarely drank anymore and never anything harder than wine. But, the bottle of peach Schnapps Chase and Foreman had given her for her birthday a few weeks ago was just too tempting to resist in her state of mind last night.

Even though she had only been in them for an hour, she shed her clothes as soon as she got in the door of her apartment. She drew a hot bath, lit a few candles and set the bottle of Schnapps on the small table by the tub. The shot glass, also from Chase and Foreman, was black with the words "Over the Hill" written across the front in big, white letters. The number "30" adorned the other side. She poured the liquor into the glass and threw it back quickly.

She tested the bathwater with her hand and then poured herself another healthy shot and climbed into the old claw foot tub. Her head rested on the terry cloth covered pillow she had bought last week as a treat for herself and across her bent knees laid a dog eared notebook which held the lists of hospitals and contacts she had made a year ago after she resigned.

Her eyes scanned down the list as she circled those she thought may still be looking for Immunologists and crossed through the ones she knew were not. She reached over onto the table for the shot glass. In a quick motion, she threw her head back and let the warm, sweet liquor slide down the back of her throat. Happy Birthday, Allison! she said to herself, as her head fell backwards onto the pillow. The notebook slid off her knees and into the water, completely unnoticed.

Half a bottle and seven hours later, Cameron's head pounded as she stumbled out of bed towards her bedroom window to close the blinds shut from the blaring sunlight. That was one thing she was not going to miss about this apartment, she said, to herself. Her bare feet padded along the cool, hard wood floor as she made her way to the kitchen. "Coffee," she said, aloud. "That'll fix me right up. I hope".

As she waited for the heady brew to drip into the coffee pot, she glanced over to her phone. She'd forgotten to check for messages last night when she came in. As if there'd really be any. She hadn't heard from Chase in several weeks and Foreman had a new girlfriend, so he never called to ask her out for a quick bite or drink after work anymore.

The one flashing message could only be from one person. Hi Mom, what's new? she said, to herself, as she hit the play button to hear her mother's voice on the other end. "Allison, its Mom, honey. Your father and I just wanted to see how you were doing. I left a message last week. Did you get it? We know you're working hard. Give us a call when you get some free time. Take care of yourself, sweetie. I worry about you,". Allison put her head down on the counter and cried.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note**: Sorry for the delay. I hadn't originally planned on making this into multiple chapters, so it has taken me a couple of days to lay out the direction of the story. Thank you so much for the reviews. They really inspire me. I hope you'll enjoy the story.

The morning after the gallery fundraiser, House got into work earlier than his usual time. He'd ridden his bike in which normally shaved off five minutes from his commute and left him in a much better mood. A quick glance around the parking told him that both Wilson and Cuddy were already there. He knew Cuddy had a budget meeting every Friday so luckily for him, her entire morning would be consumed with pie charts and deficits.

There'd be less time and therefore less chance for her to come looking for him so they could talk, or worse, to try and work things out. He knew a woman like Cuddy would never let her work suffer because of a relationship. He just hoped that philosophy applied to cover his work, too.

The office was empty when House pushed through the large glass door. He dropped his bag behind his desk and began flipping through various papers and oddly half opened envelopes left by Cameron the day before. There was no sign of her in the office. No coat or bag hung on the coat rack opposite her desk and more tellingly, no coffee waited for him in the coffee pot.

House looked at his watch. Even though he was unusually early, Cameron was glaringly late. Not a good sign. Not that he expected it to go smoothly this morning anyway. Just as he started to reach for the coffee filters and foil packet of coffee, Foreman entered the conference room carrying a cardboard beverage tray from the cafeteria with three large coffees inside.

"One of those better be for me," House barked at him. "Gimme," he said, holding out his hand while wiggling his fingers impatiently.

"I've worked here how long? Eighteen months?" Foreman said, as he let out an exaggerated puff of air from his chest between the two thoughts.

House looked at his lead Fellow suspiciously, wondering where he was going with his thought. "Give or take the week you took off for your old 'youth gang' reunion," he said, sarcastically.

"And in all that time…" Foreman continued on, completely ignoring House's last comment. "I can only think of two occasions that Cameron has ever been late. So, either she's hung over or it's because of something you did". Foreman's eyes locked onto House's disapprovingly.

"Wow," House replied back quickly. "I wouldn't have taken the coffee if I'd known you were going to be so judgey".

"Well, since Chase left town weeks ago, I'm going to assume this has all the earmarks of your handiwork," Foreman quickly shot back.

"Oh, relax," House replied. "It could have just as easily been something you did".

"No, not just as easily. What did you do?"

House's witty reply was cut off by Cameron's figure moving past the glass office walls and through the door.

"You're late," House said, as his eyes ran over her body.

Despite all the uncertainty of how the day would unfold, House couldn't help but have his first thought of Cameron be that of her clothing selection. She was wearing a straight skirt with ridiculously high heels and a form fitting blouse that wrapped interestingly around her small waist and tied in the back. Her hair was down and loosely fell over her shoulders. And House thought he detected a slight hint of more than the usual subdued amount of perfume she normally wore.

He cringed at the image he suddenly had of himself getting her out of that blouse, playfully twirling her body like a top as the ends of the blouse were untied and pulled.

"Technically, no. I'm not late," Cameron replied quickly, not looking at House. "Good Morning, Eric".

"I was down in HR submitting the personnel requisition for the fellowship vacancy. Interestingly enough, they already had five applicant packets on file," she said, as she roughly handed House the bulky folders and made her way to the coffee maker.

Foreman's head shot up. "Fellowship vacancy? What the hell are you talking about? Has someone heard from Chase?" he asked, looking directly at House.

"No, not Chase," Cameron redirected. "Me. My fellowship ends in five weeks and Cuddy wants applicants reviewed, and one selected before I go".

Foreman's eyes widened at the revelation and looked more than mildly confused. "So, you're leaving? When did you decide this?" he asked.

Allison looked sheepishly out from under her coffee mug. "Um…last night," she said, quietly.

"Last night?" Foreman asked, sharply. "You just had an epiphany about your fellowship between dinner and bedtime and decided it was time to leave?" Looking quizzically over at House, he said, "And you're supporting this?"

House broke the awkward silence. "She has a two year contract just like everyone else and this _is_ a teaching hospital. You want job security? Get a practice with a mortgage, a receptionist and outrageously high malpractice premiums".

"But what about Chase?" Foreman said, now looking highly annoyed. "He's been here longer than Allison and you've never once said anything to him about leaving".

"Chase is on leave of absence. It's different," House chided.

Foreman shook his head in disbelief. "By definition that's the very reason it shouldn't be different," he said, as he threw his half full paper coffee cup in the trash can. "So, we're going to lose Cameron, train someone new…"

"Teach," House interjected.

"…and cover indefinitely for Chase? That's brilliant," he said, as he ran his fingers over his tightly cropped hair.

"Hey, I don't make the rules. If you've got a problem with it, take it up with Cuddy. Otherwise, we've got a patient to save. I assume you both remember her?" House asked sarcastically, his eyebrows lifted towards his forehead.

Disregarding House's explanation, Foreman rose from his seat at the conference table, walking over to where Cameron stood by the coffee maker. "Allison, you can't be ok with this," he said compassionately, his hand hovering in the space between them as if torn with the idea of touching her. "What's your plan?"

Shrugging her shoulders, she vacantly stared at her coffee. "I've got five weeks to help find a replacement for this department and hopefully a position somewhere for myself and then start packing. That's the plan".

"It's all right, Eric," she said, giving him a small smile. "I've been expecting this to happen. I'm ok with it, really".

Staring at her intently, Foreman slowly shook his head. "Uh, it's funny," he said, his eyes now locked on to hers. "I don't think I've ever heard you tell an outright lie before just now," he said, as he turned to give a glaring look to House who bristled at the implication of the comment, then set down his coffee mug and walked out of the conference room.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: ** Sorry if this chapter seems short. There's more coming. And, please…I'm not in the medical profession, so I apologize in advance for any faux pas in the diagnosis of their patient. Hope you like it and thanks for the feedback.

Ten minutes after walking out of the conference room, House pulled up a chair at a table in the corner of the cafeteria and let his thoughts fall, as his gaze did, to his coffee. From overhead, a plate with a sticky bun and a chocolate frosted doughnut fell flatly on the table between House and his coffee. Working without speaking, Wilson began dragging a chair noisily across the floor from the neighboring table to sit across from House.

"I've got a patient in twenty minutes. Talk quickly and keep the embellishments to a minimum," he said covertly.

House lowered his head as if in pain. "Budget meeting?" he asked

"Oh, you have no idea," Wilson shook his head, slowly.

Rolling his eyes slightly at Wilson, House finally said quietly, "Cuddy made me give Cameron notice from her fellowship. Oh, and I ended it with Lisa last night".

"Oh…Kay," Wilson dragged the word out as he stared confusingly at his friend. "So the fact that you're not hiding in your own office drinking coffee tells me you're not ok with at least one of those decisions".

"And, I saw Cameron naked," House threw out into the conversation.

"What? Where? Does _she_ know you saw her?" Wilson's voice was elevated to almost a squeal.

"Shhhh. Jeez, you're embarrassing yourself," House said, as his eyes squeezed together as if in some unbearable pain. "In the locker room yesterday and _yes_, she knows".

"Hmm. I see," Wilson recovered. "Well, this better be damn good, House. Please tell me that seeing Cameron didn't have anything to do with breaking it off with Cuddy. Did it?"

"No!" House said quickly, before dropping his head down towards the table and then looking away quietly.

"You're lying".

"I never lie," House replied, returning his gaze to look directly at his friend.

"Well, that's a lie. We could go on like this for an hour," Wilson said, firmly.

House began drumming his fingers nervously on the table. "She overheard Cuddy and I talking about her fellowship yesterday in the elevator. We didn't know she was there," he said, looking embarrassingly at Wilson.

"How could you not have seen her in the elevator?"

"Trust me," House said, giving Wilson an annoyed expression. "Look, it's a long story- do you want to hear this or not?"

"Right, sorry. Go on".

"Anyway, I followed her into the women's shower to talk and after a few minutes, she just stepped out of the shower and picked up her towel-- completely naked".

"Ok, well there's no way that's the entire story," Wilson said, rubbing his eyes. "But in the interest of time, let's come back to that. What happened with Lisa?"

"Come on, you know me," House began, incredulously. "We were on borrowed time ten minutes after we first slept together".

Wilson was annoyed, but not shocked by the bluntness of House's confession. "Right, well no doubt you've hurt her," he said, flatly.

"She'll find another job soon," House replied quickly, as if lost in thought.

"Not Cameron! Lisa" Wilson shot back, as his displeasure was quickly replaced with a look of enlightenment that flashed across his face.

"Oh, oh! You are so screwed, my friend," he said, grinning foolishly.

"Great. Thanks for your support- top notch as always," House shot back annoyingly, as he stood to leave. "Don't you have a dying patient to see?"

"House," Wilson said, seriously. "Do you know what you're doing?"

And with that, House looked back silently at Wilson for a moment, before turning and walking away.

"I'll never live to see forty," Wilson said to himself, rubbing the back of his neck and shaking his head in exasperation.

When House returned to the office, Foreman and Cameron had both gone to go check in on their only patient. Lois Proctor was a fifty two year old mother of three that had been admitted several days before suffering from debilitating stomach pain, rapid weight loss and every GI disturbance known to man.

Labs were still pending, but House was fairly confident she had contracted a nasty but common parasite. It was a simple case and if all went well, they might be able to discharge her in a week.

House poured himself a fresh cup of Cameron's coffee and walked back to his desk. "Wilson was right. I'm lying my ass off".

He might have gone on another couple of months with Lisa before figuring out it wasn't going to work. But, after seeing Cameron, it suddenly didn't feel right. He felt guilty he couldn't stop thinking about Cameron and guilty he had hurt Lisa and all that guilt pissed the hell out of him.

"Mrs. Proctor's labs are in," Cameron said firmly, from the opposite side of the desk, pulling him out of his thoughts. It's G_iardia Lamblia. _ Foreman's getting her started on some Metronidazole and Paromomycin," handing him the woman's file. "We found a slight abscess on her liver, which we can watch for a couple of days but she should start to respond favorably to the treatments within the next twelve hours".

House stared at Cameron's reflection in the window he was now facing. "Great". "Go give her the good news and tell her to be more fastidious about washing her hands and be pickier about where she eats out".

Cameron stood frozen in place before his desk. "Right. I'll let her know," she said quietly, as she slowly started to leave.

"Cameron," House's voice resonated from over her shoulder, causing her to turn around to now face his back yet again. "About yesterday, the elevator and everything. I'm... that was a mistake. You didn't deserve that," he said, finally turning in his chair to face her. His eyes held hers for a moment before she dropped her gaze to his desk.

"Ok, thanks," she said softly, turning to leave.

A wave of frustration rose within him. "Would you stop that?" House bellowed. Are you going to get mad? Stop acting like this hasn't hurt you. You can't be that nice".

"Fine, it hurts," she said, angrily. "I suppose that makes me pathetic, right? Let's just try to get through this like grown ups, House. It'll be easier on everyone".

House nodded once in agreement before looking back at her face. "May I ask where you're inquiring for work?" he said softly, almost regrettably.

"Well, I don't think Yule will still think too kindly of me, but there's an Associate Director of Immunology opening at New York University Hospital and a staff position down at Johns Hopkins. I might scrap the whole thing and just move back home and see what I can get close by my family".

"What about here?" House asked.

Cameron passed him a disapproving look. "I'm not aware of anything I'd be suited for and given recent developments, I don't think I have much of a future here. It's probably best to just get a fresh start".

There is silence between them as House sits quietly, fingering his prized red and grey ball.

"What about Chase?" Cameron asked, breaking the quiet of the room.

"What about him?"

"It's just that….it's going to have to be different with him," she said, awkwardly. "It's not exactly easy for him to…."

"What are you saying, _exactly_?" House said. His eyes pulled up at the corners as if the entire exchange caused him pain.

"I'm trying to tell you that he's going to need a little more special treatment ending his fellowship than you gave me. He's different than me. He's different than _you_. Things affect him more. He's alone," she said sadly, her voice dropping.

"Oh, he's a big boy. You of all people should know that," he said, mockingly. He can take care of himself. Doesn't need me to play Daddy and make it all better".

"No, that's exactly what I'm saying. He's going through a lot right now and could use your support or at the very least, your empathy," she said, defiantly. Her arms crossed over her chest, her fists clenched against her sides, her knuckles white.

"Hey, he's not the one that got shot. That would be me, over here, remember? Why does everyone seem to forget that?"

"Fine. Yes, you were shot. No one is forgetting that. You were badly wounded, but you recovered. You're healing and your leg is better than it was before. Chase is _still _wounded. His father's death, you being shot. He's struggling with his faith, his future, everything" Cameron's voice was low as it trailed off.

"Leave it to Chase to work all of the angles," House said sarcastically, before dropping his gaze over her face as if he was actually considering Cameron's words.

"All I'm saying," Cameron began again. "Is that you could stand to take the time to go see him. Talk to him. I know he would never admit it, but he thinks of you like a father. Despite everything, he _trusts_ you".

"Wow," House responded, somewhat startled by the possibility. "I've really got to rethink getting those Botox injections and Pilates lessons".

"Ok. Father _figure_. Doesn't have to mean you're physically capable of siring him," she frowned, disapprovingly.

House stared at her for a few seconds before he responded. "Great. Thanks for the advice. Makes the exit interview less awkward, don't you think?"

"He's at the…" Cameron started, before getting cut off.

"I know where he is," he said flatly, dropping his gaze from her eyes to his desk as he began to shuffle papers indiscriminately about his desk.

"Right, well think of this as one last favor to me. You owe him," she said, flatly.

"You mean I owe _you_, right? That's what you really meant to say. The noble, self-sacrificing Cameron. Bartering away her last gold coin to help someone down on their luck".

"No" she said, coldly. "You don't owe me anything. We're even". And with that she turned and walked out of his office, his eyes following her until he could no longer make out her shape.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note:  Thanks for sticking with this story. This was always meant to be a House/Cameron story of sorts, so please don't give up on it if that's what you're looking for. If you like where it's going, please let me know. I really appreciate the reviews. Hope you like this

The drive upstate to The Cloister of St. Theresa's was uneventful. House had opted at the last minute to take the motorcycle instead of the car when the weather proved to be too nice to pass up. The religious sanctuary was located a little over an hour from the College. Once outside of Princeton, the drive was made up mostly of winding rural roads through picture postcard little towns.

House had learned in confidence through Cuddy a month or so ago where Chase had chosen to stay while trying to sort out his life. It wasn't a surprise to him that Chase had ended up here, just that he had gone so quickly after the shooting. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Chase had been struggling with his faith, his father and his job for quite some time. House thought to himself that out of everyone he knew Chase had experienced almost as bad a year as he had.

Through the massive entry way gate, House could see down a long, pristine drive that led to a beautiful large stone building. There were no vehicles of any kind in front of the building or on the grounds that he could see. Picking an out of the way spot, House parked his bike, threw his gloves inside of his helmet and hooked it over the handlebars. Extracting his cane from the custom made holder on the side of the bike, he swung his leg over the seat and set off for what he hoped was the main entrance.

A thin, middle aged man clad in a brownish colored robe with a simple, large wooden cross hanging from his neck appeared at the door immediately, as if he had been watching for his arrival. "Good day, my friend. Welcome. You must be Doctor House, yes?" he said, softly. His voice was firm, but low. "I'm Brother Thomas. Come in, come in please. We don't get many visitors, so this is indeed an honor," he said, smiling widely at House.

"Thanks for letting me come up on such short notice. When we spoke on the phone, you mentioned that you would be telling Chase...Robert that I wanted to see him. Does he know I was coming today?" House asked, as he casually looked around the simple but impressive room.

"Yes, of course. He's been preparing spiritually for this," Brother Thomas said, politely.

"Right, naturally," House replied politely, fighting the impulse to sarcastically comment on the thought of Chase he was now conjuring up in his mind.

"You'll find him in the garden, Doctor House, just out through these doors and down the walkway. I'll bring tea out in just a few minutes," Brother Thomas said, as he swept back a hand to show House the direction to take.

The grounds of the Cloister were immaculate. Everywhere House could see were beautiful plants, trees and large containers of flowers. Wooden benches were placed randomly along the path that led out to the garden and House wondered how anyone could think amidst all this peace and quiet.

He saw Chase on a bench that was tucked between two huge rosebushes. He was dressed in a robe similar to Brother Thomas' but not quite as long and with no cross around his neck. His hair was shorter and darker and House thought to himself that he looked heavier but well rested.

"I'm not even going to ask how you found me," Chase said, staring out to the middle of the garden as House settled onto the bench next to him.

"You had God listed as the emergency contact on your employment application," House said, lightly.

A small laugh slipped out of Chase's mouth. "I thought you weren't a believer," he said, turning to look at House for the first time.

"Yes, well I'm trying not to be so judgey. It's one of my near death resolutions," House threw back.

"Right. That sounds like an attainable goal".

"Cameron," House said, awkwardly. "Cameron told me," he said, as the lie passed his lips softly.

"Oh, right," Chase said, just realizing what House was talking about.

"So, how's it going? No one's jumped you in the confessional booth or stabbed you with a shiv made from an old ruler yet have they?" House asked, as he looked over Chase's features searching for imaginary injuries.

"No, nothing like that," Chase replied, sheepishly. "It's all on the up and up here," he said, as he began to look around the garden.

"Yes, I can see that," House said, staring at Chase out of the corner of his eye. "So, are you ready to start healing people again? How's that saying go? Do unto others…"

"I dunno. I'm not sure if I'm in the best position to do that. The shooting and everything…" he said, as his voice trailed off.

"Hmm, yes that was all very messy for sure. And, not that I wouldn't be flattered to think my near demise was the reason, but that's not really why you're here is it?" House asked.

"What do you mean? That wasn't enough?" Chase asked, looking surprisingly into House's eyes.

"You're running away".

"No, I'm not running. I'm dealing with…look, someone with a gun walked into our office and could have killed us. He very nearly succeeded with you," Chase said breathlessly, obviously agitated by the passing memory of that day.

"Maybe yes, maybe no. But, you're dealing with nothing about the shooting. That's not what brought you here," House said, matter of factly.

"House, I appreciate you coming but you have got no idea…" He started, before House abruptly cut him off.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about your father, Robert," he said gently, as Chase's eyes widen and then looked away quickly.

"He didn't want me to tell you. He didn't want you to know because he didn't want to hurt you. That's what some parents do. And, I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping his confidence, but I was wrong," House's voice fell quiet and still. The palm of his right hand rocked slowly over the handle of his cane as he thought about that day Rowan Chase had asked him not to share his fatal prognosis with his son.

"I see now that you had a right to know," House continued. "But whatever you think, I never did it out of spite or malice".

Chase finally turned to look at House. His eyes were red and moist with tears. "So, why tell me this now, House? Did you think you could just tell me and I'd suddenly feel better?" his voice was shaky and defensive.

"No," House said flatly, looking into Chase's reddened face. " But life's too short to waste by not being happy. I read that once in a fortune cookie," he said, sarcastically, hoping to get at least a small laugh out of Chase.

When that response from Chase didn't happen, he continued on in a more serious tone. "People keep telling me that I've got to live like I deserve to be happy or something to that effect. There must be something to that, don't you think?" he said, as he shifted on the bench, extending his right leg out to cross over the ankle of his left.

"So, the question then is what makes you happy Chase, and why don't you think you deserve it?"

Chase nodded silently for a moment as if collecting his thoughts and then he spoke. "I like being a doctor; I do it well enough I suppose. But I watch you and Foreman and even Cameron. And you're all inspired by what you do--it's a part of you. I don't feel that way. It's what I do, not who I am and I don't know if that's good enough anymore," he said, almost regrettably.

"So who are you then?" House asked.

"I'm an imposter" Chase replied softly, almost relieved by the revelation.

"Hmmm, guess I better make a mental note to myself to really do those reference checks next time and not just _say_ that I did," House said, lightly.

"I think I have unfinished business here," Chase said, honestly, ignoring the levity of House's last comment.

"Well, that's a start," House's voice was flat, but supportive. "Looks like this is a good place to find out if that's what you want. For what it's worth, you're a good doctor, Chase. And, I think you could have a long and wonderful go at it. But, it won't mean shit in the end if you don't love doing it. So, choose the one you can love".

Chase started to speak, but was interrupted by Brother Thomas setting down a small tray with two cups of tea and a delicate hand painted teapot. He smiled at the two old acquaintances and turned and walked away without uttering a single word.

"So, what about you, House? Are you happy?" Chase asked, as he reached for his cup of tea.

"I love my job…" he began, almost sarcastically before Chase cut him off. "I wasn't asking about your job. I asked if you were happy. Obviously you've had some success with the Ketamine, and the leg pain seems to have lessened" he said, looking over at House's leg. "So, has that made you any happier?"

"I get by just fine," House said, uncomfortably, not enjoying that the spotlight of the conversation was suddenly being turned on him.

"Now who's running away?" Chase asked, looking into House's gaze. "You know she loves you, don't you?

"I didn't come all the way up here to talk about Cameron," House barked, defiantly. 

Chase's eyes widened and his brows lifted towards his forehead in surprise of House's response. "Wow. What makes you think I was referring to Cameron?"

House flinched at the question, his mind racing to come up with an excuse for letting his thoughts jump the gun.

"Relax," Chase continued, feeling a bit more emboldened by the obvious crack in House's tough veneer. "I was talking about Cameron," his voice was light. "But I know that you wouldn't have come up here on your own accord. Cameron talked to you. She asked you to do it, didn't she?" Chase searched House's demeanor for clues.

"I'll take your silence as a yes then," he said.

"And you did it because you respect what she thinks, what she cares about. You did it because you wanted to please her," he said, almost victoriously. "Why can't you just let yourself go and try being with her? She's not the helpless little girl you have convinced yourself she is. She's a wonderful woman".

"I don't need you to lecture me about Cameron," House said, sharply.

Feeling the need to both rid himself of guilt and help House, Chase began to explain himself. "Look, what happened between Cameron and me…"

"I don't want you to talk about her," House seethed, his steel blue eyes locking onto Chase's face. "Just don't".

"I'm sorry" Chase said, awkwardly.

"Don't be," House said, shaking his head and feeling annoyed that he had let Chase's comments affect him. "Look, I should probably get going. I don't want to be on the road too late with the bike," he said, as he levered himself from the bench to stand next to his untouched cup of tea on the tray. "Good talk," he said, flatly as he started to walk away leaving a stunned Chase who had already set his mind to worrying if he had gone too far.

"Take your time here," he said, turning back to look at Chase. "There will be a place for you back at the hospital when and if you decide that's what you want," he said, before turning back on the garden path and walking away.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: ** Thanks for sticking with the story. Please let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy it

After his visit with Chase, House had an entire weekend to think about the events of the past week. He wondered if his talk with Chase would make any kind of a difference. He certainly wasn't going to lose sleep looking for Chase's forgiveness when it came to what happened with Chase's father, but House admitted to himself that how Chase worked out his problems did actually matter to him. Now if he could only work out his own problems, he thought to himself. He rubbed his eyes as he thought of the issues that that mainly pertained to his team and in particular, one Allison Cameron.

At his piano, he sat with a cigar and a healthy glass of scotch contemplating his options. His fingers glided effortlessly over the slick keys, moving from Jazz to Chopin and finally the Rolling Stones before even that proved not enough of a distraction. Nothing he did seemed to keep her out of his thoughts.

And it was only in those private thoughts that he could acknowledge any possibility of himself caring for her. In reality, there'd be no way he could keep her on as his employee and student and pursue something personal with her. She was young enough to probably be willing to take the chance, but he could never knowingly put her personal and professional reputation at risk. He, on the other hand, was old enough to know better.

Irritated by the foreseeable lack of any reasonable chance for a normal relationship with Cameron, House forcibly stamped out the cigar into the ashtray and threw his head back to drain the last few drops of his scotch. I must be crazy, he thought to himself. If anything, the last few days has shown that Cameron wasn't even remotely interested in him as she once had been. She was hurt about losing her fellowship and how all of that transpired for sure, but he wasn't convinced she still possessed feelings for him.

What he really needed, he finally decided, was more time to figure it all out and there was only one person he knew who could make that happen.

Lisa Cuddy stood in her closet contemplating which suit best matched her current mood. Her eyes ran over the vast collection of outrageously expensive garments hanging flawlessly along the closet wall. God help me, but I have a feeling I'm going to need something red today, she thought to herself. She pulled a deeply hued magenta silk blouse off of a padded hanger first and then a tightly tailored red skirt. The skirt went on easily over her small hips and buttoned effortlessly around her waist. She slipped on a dangerously high pair of heels and grabbed a matching red suit jacket, folding it over her arm before flicking off the light in her closet.

In the hallway mirror she checked her hair and applied a fresh coat of crimson lipstick. Thankfully, she thought, she'd managed to have almost no contact with Greg House at work since the Gallery fundraiser. But there was no way she could expect to avoid seeing him for much longer.

The weekend had actually done her some good. She hadn't wallowed in her thoughts as she imagined she might do. And, by late Sunday afternoon, she'd started coming to terms with House's decision. Nothing, she had decided, was going to stop her from getting what she really wanted. And what she really wanted, she realized, was something more precious than a relationship with Doctor Gregory House.

After giving herself one last look over in the mirror, she inhaled deeply and slipped on the suit jacket and then grabbed her travel coffee mug from the hall table before heading out the door.

The Diagnostics office was dark when Allison entered Monday morning. It was seven thirty, nearly half an hour or more before she could expect Foreman to arrive and a good hour and a half before House would make an appearance. She dropped her messenger bag beside her desk and hung up her raincoat on the coat rack. She quickly flipped through the half dozen envelopes she'd picked up from the department's mail box on her way in this morning. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, but any of which could be Curriculum Vitae's for new candidates, she thought. Eventually, she walked over to the coffee maker to start the day's first pot.

As she carefully measured the coffee, her thoughts quickly turned to how many more times she would ever perform the simple task in this office, a task which had grown familiar and comforting to her. She also thought about the handful of job contacts she'd made over the weekend. Two promising leads had come out of them and she'd quickly sent off her CV and a descriptive letter detailing her interest and availability.

Ten minutes later, the door swung open. "There should be a law against coffee smelling that good," James Wilson said sheepishly from where he stood in the doorway, coffee mug in hand. "Good Morning, Doctor Wilson," she said, as a small smile turned up the corner of her mouth. "Perfect timing. It just stopped brewing".

From behind her desk, she watched him as he poured coffee into his mug. He fidgeted nervously with the wooden coffee stirrer before tapping it twice against the rim of the mug and throwing it in the trash can.

"Good weekend?" he asked, blowing on the hot liquid before taking a sip. "Just making job inquiries and sending out resumes" she said without looking up from the disarray of papers on her desk.

Wilson slowly moved towards her. "Yes, I heard about your fellowship," his voice was soft with just a hint of sadness. "Find anything here that might look promising? You know, I heard Logan up in Internal Medicine might have a fellowship opening on his team. It's only one year, but it could buy you some time," he added hoping the hour he'd spent on Friday trying to talk the uptight, close-minded Internist into using his surplus teaching dollars for a new fellowship slot hadn't been in vain.

Cameron looked up from her desk with a certain look of curiosity in her eyes. "I hadn't heard about that one. I don't know. I'm not so sure if taking on another specialty would be a good idea. I've been thinking that maybe it's time to just take my two years worth of diagnostics experience and get back into an Immunology specialty. I'll look in to it though, thanks for letting me know," she said softy, making a point to look him directly into his big, brown eyes.

Wilson nodded gently and turned to make his way to the door. "Allison," he said softly, as he gently tipped the coffee mug back and forth in his hand, his eyes pressed downwards to the floor. "It matters to him. You should know that. He may not let on, but where you go and with whom matters. It's not going to be easy on him to let you go. Nothing we've grown comfortable with ever is".

Cameron closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead as if the last few thoughts from Dr. Wilson had suddenly given her a headache. "Well, he's never given any indication of that over the past two years I've been here. Do you think that's going to magically change in the next four weeks?" she said defensively, as she leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I just thought you should know, that's all. What you do with it, is up to you," he said gently, as he held her gaze for a moment before turning to set his half full coffee mug on the conference room table and walked out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

Greg House walked through the front doors of PPTH thirty minutes earlier than he'd ever arrived there before. Unfortunately, no one on his team would ever know since his first stop of the day was not the fourth floor, but Lisa Cuddy's office.

He stood outside the heavy wood and glass doors to her outer office gathering his thoughts for a moment before pushing through them. If she heard him make his way across the carpeted floor to her desk, she never let on. In fact, she continued to work efficiently, making marks and notations with her pen on random papers scattered along the top of her desk.

"Must be something pretty big to bring you down here," she said flatly, without lifting her eyes from her work. "And, wow before nine o'clock, too. That's got to be a personal best. And it can't be the leg, because getting shot took care of that. So, what's up?" she said, as her eyes finally lifted from her work to lock onto his.

House slowly lowered himself into the old, but very uncomfortable chair opposite her desk. His cane he rested against the side of his right leg. "Nice suit today…" he started, before being abruptly cut off. "House. Don't. What do you want?" she asked. Her words were clipped and icy.

"So…how are you?" he asked, sincerely.

Lisa put the pen down on one of the documents to which she had just been adding her signature and pushed back slightly in her chair. "I'm fine. I'm really just fine," she said, as a slight smile curved on her mouth.

House searched her face for some sort of lie. Her eyes though, cut deep and her expression held steadfast.

"So, we're ok then?" He said softly, as he stared at feet before raising his gaze to meet hers. "Work is work," she said flatly, as her eyes slowly settled back on her work. "And, everything else has no place here".

"Was that all?" she added coldly, as she dramatically scribbled her signature along the bottom of a piece of paper.

House stood as if to go, but slowly turned back around to face her. His face slipped into a pained expression as he spoke. "Actually, I need a favor," he said, bluntly.

"Of course, you do," Cuddy said, still concentrating on her work. House stood beside her desk silently.

"Well, what? Is it for a case you're working on?" she asked, impatiently.

"Nope, not exactly a case," he said, as he moved to stand behind the chair he had just vacated, his fingers gently tapping out an indistinguishable rhythm on the fabric.

"If it's personal, then the answer is no," she said, abruptly. A vigorous debate on how to answer raged on inside House's head. "Pretty sure its work related," he finally replied. "I went to see Chase this past weekend. I told him to take his time at the monastery…" he started.

"It's a cloister," she added, sarcastically. "Ok, whatever," he shot back. "They're wearing dresses, making animal topiaries and there are no women within two miles of the place. Might as well be a nunnery. Anyway, I told him he'd have a place here when or if he was ever ready to come back.

"Well, that'll make Legal's day and to think they were taking up a collection to send _you _away for an extended sabbatical.

"Oh, they love me. If I wasn't around they'd be nothing but glorified hall monitors," he volleyed back.

Annoyed by his antics, Cuddy looked up from her work to make sure House knew his time was about to run out. "Right. So, uh really busy here. What's the favor?

"I can't be down two doctors," he said, his face turning suddenly serious. "If Chase is out and we've got to break in someone new, that only leaves half of Foreman..."

"No."

"Extend Cameron's contract. Six months," House urged.

"No."

"Five months and I'll make her pull extra clinic duty".

"Forget it House. In case you've forgotten, this is a teaching hospital, not General Hospital. Those positions are funded through board approved grant money. You can't violate the terms of the fellowship or you'll lose the funding. If you want to keep Cameron, pay it out of your own pocket. And, since we both now that's not going to happen, I suggest you start those interviews in earnest".

"So it's not personal, huh?" he asked, in frustration.

"Is it for you?" she asked.

"Nope."

"Glad we talked," she said, dismissing him as she reapplied her pen to paper and set back to work.

Cameron stood in the doorway between House's office and the conference room. "Five new applications for the fellowship," she said softly, wondering just how deep in thought House actually was.

He swiveled slightly in his chair to face her. His eyes subconsciously ran up the length of her body before settling on her face. "Thanks," he said as she placed the small stack of papers on his desk. "Anyone promising?"

"Yes, two that I would say are very promising. Their files are on top of the stack. Let me know which ones you select and I'll call them to set up interviews". "Your calendar is open this Thursday and Friday," she said, as she made her way back over to stand between the two offices. "I'll take your clinic hours Thursday morning and then you'll have the entire day to interview".

House studied her with interest. She was being way too agreeable about the entire process. She always seemed to give the good fight, but this time she was reluctant. It was as if she had given up or maybe just let go. House shook his head to clear the thoughts from his mind. "I'll need Wilson. Can you see what times he has blocked off? And if Foreman is around, he needs to sit in also".

"I'll let him know," she said, as she turned towards her desk. "Think Chase is coming back?" she asked, at the last minute.

"Wouldn't know," House said, as he started to flip through the application folders.

"I guess you better pick a back up then, just in case," she said, nodding towards the folders on his desk.

Five minutes later, she sat at her desk catching up on patient charting. Her eyes followed his form as he made his way past her and to the coffee pot. Not wanting to let on that his stroll was of any interest to her, she quickly redirected her gaze to her computer screen. Silently, a red coffee mug came to set on her desk by her right hand. Cameron looked up to find House standing just off to the side of her chair, his knees almost touching the mesh seat back.

"I tried to get Cuddy to extend your fellowship agreement," he said softly, his voice was deep and low.

"Why? What's changed?" she said, as she looked up into his face.

House shifted anxiously on his feet as he plunked the cane down forcibly onto the carpet with two quick taps. "Timing, opportunity…I can't break in somebody new. It's too much, too quickly. The team's just getting back onto its feet. It's not time to throw it out".

"You only think that because the prospect of it seems like work. But, think of all the fun you'll have screwing with someone new. It'll be like Christmas morning". Cameron's face tried to appeared encouraging, but she didn't realize her eyes gave her away.

"Yes, well you're not a believer. How would you know what Christmas morning is like?" he replied, sarcastically.

Cameron sighed and restrained herself from rolling her eyes. "You know what I mean".

"Oh, you agnostics, always leaving the Christ out of Christmas," he said, as he turned to the window behind her desk leaving Cameron to frown dramatically at the crass comment.

"Oh, come on. You _know_ me," he said, hoping she'd understand how much he hated change.

"No," she said, softly shaking her head. "That's the thing. Once I thought I did, but as it turns out I really don't know anything at all," she said, as she rose out of her seat.

Seeing that she was going to make one of her trademark exits, House reached out quickly, stopping her in her tracks by grabbing her wrist.

"Find something else here," his voice was devoid of inflection as his eyes searched hers for some sort of compliance.

Cameron moved in closely to his body, staring him directly in the eyes. Slowly, she reached down to cover his hand with hers and gently pulled it from her wrist. "We both know it's too late for that," she said, as she rounded the desk and conference table, passing Dr. Wilson in the doorway.

House stood still for a moment before looking up at his friend. "What do you want?" he asked, gruffly.

"Yes, well just checking on your plan, Donner. The pass ahead looks snowy and the rest of the party says they're hungry," Wilson said sarcastically, as a slight smile made its way across his mouth.

"Oh, shut up. Have _you_ got any better ideas?" House shot back, defensively.

Wilson rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "Besides going out drinking tonight? No. I take it you talked to Cuddy today?"

House walked back to his desk and flopped himself down into his desk chair. Wilson followed and sat in the chair in front of the desk, stretching out one leg before him while he propped the other onto the corner of the desk.

"She said Cameron can stay if it comes out of your budget," House said, swatting Wilson's expensive French loafers off his desk with an applicant file.

"What about Chase's spot?" Wilson asked, obviously not fazed by losing his comfortable position.

"Can't. He's all tied up in legal. I couldn't touch him if I wanted to," House's eyes drifted off towards the conference room.

"Yes, and you would never go up against Legal," Wilson said, mockingly.

"Well, this is just great" House said, as he threw his prized red and gray ball over Wilson's head and towards the glass wall. "I should have never gotten involved with Cuddy."

"And?" Wilson asked, knowing that was not the end of the thought process.

"And I should have never followed Cameron into that shower," House said softly, as he rubbed his forehead as if it ached.

Wilson looked over sympathetically at his friend. "Karma's a real bitch, isn't it?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note: ** Kind of a short chapter. But, thanks for sticking with the story. Don't stop reviewing! I really love (and need!) the feedback. Hope you enjoy

The bar inside Le Monde's Restaurant was dark, cozy and usually staffed with friendly and sympathetic bartenders used to dealing with a regular clientele of doctors from the nearby hospital. But tonight, one of their patrons wasn't a regular. In fact, not one of the bar staff could quite place who she'd been in with before, but they thought they'd remembered her being quite important at the hospital. Tonight though, she sat alone and for the last hour quite clearly nursing several different types of flavored martinis.

"Did you know that one in five people who drink alone develop a problem with alcohol later on?" James Wilson said to his boss, from where he stood behind her shoulder.

Cuddy turned slightly to give him a questioning glance. "Wow. You're subtle," she said sarcastically, as she fingered the edge of cocktail napkin under her martini.

"I'm a doctor, my people skills are finely honed," he quickly replied, as he pulled back the bar stool next to hers.

"Well, you've got the equation wrong. It's not a problem with alcohol; it's a problem with people. It's a little known fact but those four people are nuts. It's no wonder that one poor bastard drinks," she said, as she motioned the bartender over to them.

Wilson laughed softly, impressed that she had genuinely brought a smile to his face for the first time today.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, as the bartender set down another martini in front of her and went off to get Dr. Wilson's 'usual' beverage of choice.

"Oh," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I lost my better judgment here one night last week. I was hoping to rummage through their lost and found. Mind if I join you?"

"What, to help reduce my odds of dependency?" she lobbed back, as she swept her right hand out, motioning towards the vacant bar stool he stood beside.

Wilson stared at her intently. "So, the fact that I've never seen you here-- ever unless it's after a work function shouldn't tip me off to something?"

Cuddy looked up from her glass as they eyed one another suggestively.

"You know I know," he said, his right eyebrow rising slightly toward his forehead.

"Of course you do," she said, as she rolled her eyes.

"Want to talk about it?" he pressed gently.

She drew a healthy sip from her glass and slowly let out a sigh. "You know, there's not much to say, really. He just as a matter of fact said it didn't feel right to him anymore. Something about being back 'in his own skin'," she said, as she waved her right hand gracefully back and forth between them.

"So, how're you doing with that?" he asked, cautiously.

She shot him a quick glare. "What, the solitary drinking didn't give it away?"

"Of course, sorry," he said, apologetically. "It's just that…"

"What? Afraid I'll go postal and make his life more miserable? You're worried about him, I get it".

"No, I'm worried about you," he said softly, his voice barely audible over the low clinking of bar glasses.

"Oh," she said, as she awkwardly looked down towards her drink.

"I was late," she said, after a few minutes of silence. Wilson's eyes narrowed as he looked at her, puzzled by her announcement.

"This weekend," she started again. "I was late," her eyes now moist with tears as she fixed them onto her cocktail napkin.

Slowly, a look of understanding crept over her companion's face. "Oh. But, not now?" he asked, gently.

"No. Not late anymore. Everything's right on time," she said, as a forced smile slowly turned up the corners of her mouth.

"Did he …"

"No" she said, cutting him off mid-thought. "I didn't tell him".

Wilson lifted the bar glass to his lips, throwing back a healthy volume of liquor.

"May I be rather blunt?" he asked.

"Oh, why not. I'm already drinking, how could it possibly hurt?" she said, flatly.

Wilson laughed gently at her demeanor, now greatly loosened in her near tipsy state. "It wasn't just a coincidence that your desire for a baby and attraction to House happened to occur at the same time, was it? You were hoping for the big package neatly tied up in a bow, right?"

Lisa shook her head slowly from side to side. "It was stupid. I must have been out of my mind to have gotten involved with him," she said, almost in disbelief.

"No, not stupid. You were vulnerable. Stop being so hard on yourself," he said, firmly, before rethinking his tone. "You love the hospital. It's your life-- your passion. But it doesn't tuck you in at night, does it? There's nothing wrong with wanting someone to take care of you".

"I don't regret the choices I've had to make for my career. It all goes with the territory. I can't start questioning myself now," she said, her face bright with emotion.

"No, of course not. But you shouldn't regret House either. He's a bastard most days and an emotional black hole the others, but he's a loyal friend. He cares about you".

Nodding her head softly, she said "Do you think there's a perfect person for everyone?"

"I…don't know. Is anyone perfect?"

She raised her eyes to meet his. "They seem like it if they care about you".

"House is not perfect," he said, flatly.

"No, not for me. But there is someone for everyone. I'm convinced of it. For us, and for him too," she said. "He just doesn't know it yet" she said, looking up suggestively at Wilson.

"Are you a betting man, Doctor Wilson?" she smiled.

After staring at the sly smile across her lips, Wilson signaled the bartender with his hand. "Max, start a tab. We're going to need another round".


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: ** Ok, here we go. If you like Cameron, I appreciate you sticking with the story because she's definitely going to be taking center stage. **_Please_** send me a review if you can- every single one makes my day. Hope you like where this is going.

House eyed his two colleagues standing together at the main desk in the hospital lobby with curiosity as he walked into PPTH. They were not standing side by side as one might expect to see, but rather closely facing one another. James Wilson was casually leaning against the massive reception desk resting his weight upon his left elbow, his right leg slightly extended past his satchel that sat on the floor by her feet. The object of his gaze, Lisa Cuddy was also looking at him with what appeared to be great interest.

Cuddy had on a navy blue lightweight trench coat, which meant that like Wilson, she had just arrived also. House watched as she shook her head slowly and laughed at something Wilson had just said.

"Hey kids. Waiting for the school bell to ring? Gosh, I hope we don't have a pop quiz in Biology today, they're just brutal," House said, sarcastically.

Wilson frowned slightly at his emotionally underdeveloped friend while Cuddy absentmindedly shuffled mail that she had just picked up from the receptionist in her hands.

"Well, you boys have a nice day. Try not to kill anyone," she said, as she shot House a stern look. "Dr. Wilson," she said, sweetly as she gave him a nod of dismissal. "House" she said, flatly while turning on her high heels towards her office.

House straightened the strap on his backpack while looking at his friend who had just picked up his satchel from the floor. "Brrr, icy" House said, as Wilson began to walk off without him. "Guess they have that rule about not dating people you work with for a reason" he said, still being ignored by his friend.

James Wilson pressed the up arrow to the elevator. "Yes, well some adults do manage to pull it off better than others," he said, flippantly.

"Oh, you kids and your lingo," House said, as the elevator doors opened. "So, what gives? You don't think that you both coming in at the same time and late I might add, isn't interesting?"

"Well, it might be if we were actually late," Wilson said, looking very annoyed. We were at the Rubling seminar across the campus. Ring any bells? I believe you were supposed to be there as well. And don't say that Cameron didn't tell you because I know she did. In fact she probably all but stitched it into your undershorts," his voice was irritated as he jabbed the '4' button on the inside elevator panel.

"Whoa-- whoa, whoa. Ease up there, big fella. Jeez, this guy wasn't a motivational speaker was he, because I'd seriously consider getting my money back," House said, sarcastically.

"So where were you?" Wilson pressed.

"Ahh…I had a thing. Too late to get out of--you know how that goes," House lobbed back.

Wilson shook his head as if highly annoyed. "You know, breaking up with her had to be hard enough, but do you have to disregard her authority at work?"

"Oh…Kay, so we're not talking about Rubick anymore?" House said, as the elevator doors quietly thumped open. "Rubling" Wilson corrected as House continued his rant. "Come on. You can't possibly tell me she's still upset over me breaking it off. That was months ago!"

"It was last _week!_" Wilson said, incredulously, as he unlocked his office door.

"Look, we talked. She said she was ok. She said she wasn't going to blur the line between personal issues and work. I thought she meant it. I didn't think she'd still be upset".

Wilson threw his bag down on his desk and began to rub imaginary knots out of his neck. "Just because she's got to be tough at work doesn't mean she's not still vulnerable" he said, slowly lightening his tone. "All I'm saying is go easy on her and don't dismiss her position at work. She is still you're boss".

Looking as close to apologetic as he ever gets, House nodded agreeably and pushed his way out of the balcony door and over the brick divider separating his office from Wilson's.

Wilson sat down in his chair and slowly smiled. He reached for the phone and hit the speed dial. "Got him" he said, to the voice on the other line. "I don't think we'll have to worry about him stepping on your toes- for a little while, anyway" and with that, Wilson hung up. On the other end of the line, Lisa Cuddy smiled mischievously as she disconnected the line and rang yet another new secretary.

"Megan, I need you to look up a number for me" she said, as a satisfied smile made its way across her face.

It had been a long day for Allison Cameron. She quickly glanced over to the clock on her car stereo to double check the time. 7:45 pm. Not a horribly unreasonable hour for a doctor, but considering the hospital had paged her when one of their patients coded, she'd been on duty since 4:30am. She laid her head against the headrest for a second or two before turning the motor over and putting the car in gear.

She needed to go to the store. If memory served her correctly, the only thing palatable left in her kitchen was some cheese, cereal and one questionable egg. For a second, she thought about stopping for fast food, but that wouldn't solve the problem for breakfast or the rest of the week.

She pulled her car into the parking lot of the market closest to her apartment. It was small and horribly overpriced having catered to and taken advantage of college students for years. But, she could get in and out quickly and the thought of driving to the other market several miles further away just didn't appeal to her as tired as she was.

She grabbed a cart and breezed up and down the aisles as if on a mission, slowing only to glance over an impressive selection of chilled wines in the refrigerator case several units over from where she picked up the milk. "Ah, why not?" she thought to herself as she pulled a couple bottles of white wine from the case. She hadn't drank since the night she had the schnapps and while she had no plans to repeat getting drunk as she did then, the thought of a nice glass of wine and a hot bath before bed was very appealing.

She might as well enjoy herself while she could, she thought. With still no solid interview lined up from her latest job contacts, she might actually be unemployed in a few weeks- something she did not relish experiencing again. Her stomach began to ache as she thought about the interviews House would be starting this week for her position. Shaking her head softly, she backed the cart up a few feet and pulled one more bottle of wine from the refrigerated case before guiding her cart towards the front of the store.

Thankfully, the line for the lone checkout was short and there was only one couple in front of her. Gauging by the fact that they were joined as one person, she deduced that they definitely were college students, probably not much older than 19 or 20. Cameron sighed aloud softly as she watched him pull back his girlfriend's long blonde hair, kissing the nape of her neck and shoulders; her right hand twisted behind her, firmly entrenched in his front jean pocket.

They laughed lightly as the cashier told them the total of their purchases and pulled an odd assortment of bills- mostly ones and quarters from half a dozen different pockets between them.

As he lifted one of his parcels over the conveyer belt, he accidentally knocked one of Cameron's frozen Lean Cuisine's off the moving belt. He quickly mumbled an apology as he surveyed the rest of the items she'd taken out of her cart. Cameron caught his gaze and looked over her selections as well; wine, frozen dinners, not too many bananas, half a dozen eggs, and a TV guide. She closed her eyes to keep from rolling them. She was the stereotypical single woman, she thought. When the hell did that happen?

The cashier quickly began scanning Cameron's items as the couple walked away. She could hear them laugh and didn't doubt at all that she was the object of their levity. "Plastic ok, _ma'am_?" the pimply-faced bagboy asked. "Oh, God" she cringed. "This day just can't get any worse".

As she drove home, she thought about her husband for the first time in a long time. While they were never quite as carefree as the couple in the market, they had been young and in love. And there's definitely something magical about a time when you have youth, beauty and love all in your pocket.

If she had it to do over again, she thought, she probably wouldn't have married him. She loved him, for sure, but the commitment to Steve's memory, his family –even her family, had put a strain on her that had taken years to ease away. Fresh tears began to well in her eyes as she sat waiting for the traffic light two blocks from her house to turn green. Oddly, they weren't for Steve as they usually were. But rather for herself and someone she knew could never love her back.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's note:** Sorry for the delay, I've been a bit under the weather this week. I hope you like the chapter and where the story is going (and how they're starting to come together). Thanks for sticking with it- let me know how you like it, please. Your feedback is always greatly appreciated.

Cameron's fingers flew as she quickly braided her long ponytail. Completely out of character for her, she was running late. Her electricity had gone off at some point during last night's rain storm, leaving her somewhat behind this morning. Normally she woke up five or ten minutes early every morning before her alarm went off, but that was not the case today. Today, she had overslept by a full thirty minutes.

She tried to tell herself that she could be an hour later than usual and she would still arrive at work earlier than House. And, that with just weeks left before leaving, it wasn't as if she could get reprimanded--or worse, fired. But, she liked the peace and quiet of the office early in the morning. For almost two years she'd committed herself to coming in first out of everyone in the office and now she didn't want to be late, no matter how many weeks she had left.

She raced through her apartment, room by room; making sure everything was turned off while picking up as she went along. She had just made it to the kitchen to pour the freshly brewed coffee from the pot into her travel mug when the phone began to ring. Cameron eyed the clock on the stove and then quickly looked back at the phone. She didn't recognize the number on the caller id. Let the machine pick it up, she thought to herself, under her breath.

She didn't hear her outgoing message nor did she hear the shrill beep signaling the caller to leave a message. What she did hear, as she slipped on her rain coat, was the deep, handsome voice of someone familiar.

"Dr. Cameron? Did I miss you? Let's see, it's almost quarter after seven in the morning, your time. I wanted to call and let you know I'm back in the states for a while and I'm going to be in town on business. I wanted to talk with you about…"

Cameron interrupted his words as she scooped up the phone and jabbed at the 'talk' button. "Sebastian! Hi. How are you?" she asked, breathlessly.

"Well, good. I see I didn't miss you. Good morning," his voice was light, but on his end of the line his face was beaming.

"Good morning. I was actually just walking out the door. I'm running a little late-- long story," she stammered. "When are you going to be in town?"

"Ah, if all goes well, by sometime later this evening. You still owe me dinner. I was hoping we might be able to get together so I may collect it-- that is if you haven't gone off and thrown it all away for that bastard House yet. You haven't, have you?" he asked, only half sarcastically.

Cameron giggled softly under her breath. "No, nothing like that. And, yes. I would love to see you. Will you call me when you get in? I should be working until 5:30, maybe 6:00 tonight at the latest. Can I give you my cell number?" she asked, staring at the clock as she rattled out the ten digit number to him.

"It's really great to hear your voice, Allison" he said, softly. "I'll call you when I get in. Don't let House work you too hard today".

"I won't," she said, as a smile turned up the corners of her mouth. "Bye". She stood quietly wrapped in her thoughts for a moment with her hand still on the phone as it rested in its cradle before she turned towards the front door and headed off to work.

Cameron had started to think that he week was beginning to look up. Her drive into work was picture-perfect as she made every traffic light. Even with the light rain, she managed to walk through the doors of the hospital only ten minutes later than she normally did. She stopped to collect the Diagnostic department's mail from the main desk in the lobby, slowly flipping through each envelope as she waited patiently for the elevator to arrive.

The elevator bell dinged and the thick metal doors slid open quietly as she stepped inside, pushing the number '4' button as others selected their own floors. She pulled three envelopes from the stack she held tightly in her hand, immediately shoving the rest of the mail under her right arm. All three envelopes were addressed specifically to her, exactly the way she had sent out her resumes using her full name, Dr. Allison C. Cameron.

The first had the insignia for Johns Hopkins; the second from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and the last contained only her name and the words 'Department of Physician Recruitment' and a Pennsylvania address underneath it.

The doors to the elevator had just started to close when they were interrupted and pushed open again by the rubber tip of a cane. House stepped into the elevator standing beside her as he eyed Cameron and all the mail she held tucked into various spots on her body.

"You're late and you have mail," he said, flatly. "I assume the ones in your hands are interview letters for you and the ones shoved under your arm are job applicants for me?"

Cameron removed the letters from under her arm and shuffled them together with the three that were in her hand, completely unruffled by his comments.

"And, you're early. Get a ride in to school from mommy this morning?" she lobbed back.

A small smile snaked its way along the corner of House's mouth. "Nope, late night with a professional. It's always so hard to get back to sleep afterwards," he said sarcastically, as she closed her eyes to avoid showing him her displeasure at the image his words conjured up.

House's eyes followed her as she stepped out of the elevator ahead of him and walked briskly towards the office door leaving him several feet behind. Once inside, she began to flip on the overhead lights as well as the small lamp on her desk and her computer. She carefully pulled the three envelopes addressed to her back out of the stack and set them on the side of her computer.

A minute later, House rounded the corner of the conference room table on a direct course to his office. Thankfully, he left her undisturbed to her work until the smell of freshly brewed coffee lured him out of his darkened sanctuary.

"So what are you really doing here this early?" she asked, as she watched him empty several sugar packets into his coffee.

"I told you. I couldn't sleep".

Cameron eyed him suspiciously. "Your leg bothering you?"

"No. Not my leg. So, anymore prospective candidates?" he asked, changing the direction of the conversation abruptly. Cameron shifted in her chair. "I've only opened a couple. I'll bring them in to you in a few minutes. Don't forget you have three interviews the day after tomorrow starting at 9:30".

More than annoyed by her unwavering helpfulness in finding her own replacement, House nodded as a declaration of understanding to her question before moving quickly back to the safety of his office.

The morning progressed rather quickly. She had received three interview offers which she planned on contacting on her lunch hour. And, Foreman had returned from his last Rehab session, proudly announcing that Cuddy had officially cleared him for full time hours and clinic duty once again.

By 4:00, Cameron had just finished clinic duty herself and was signing her last chart when her name rang out in the waiting area. "Dr. Cameron. When you're free, could you step into my office for a moment, please?" Lisa Cuddy commanded, before turning away.

A few minutes later, Allison Cameron knocked softly on the glass and wooden door that led to her boss's impressive office. "Dr. Cameron, come in," she said, as she quickly signed several papers her secretary held out for her. "Can you give us a moment, Megan?" she asked, softly as she handed the papers back to the young woman.

Lisa extended a graceful hand, motioning for Cameron to sit in one of the two chairs in front of her desk. "So, House is on track with the interviews for his department, I hope? Any problems I need to know about?" she asked, as she sat down and began to shuffle papers around on her desk giving the appearance of being extremely busy.

Cameron stiffened at the presumption of the older woman. "Ah, yes. He's got three set up for Thursday and was reviewing several new candidate packets when I left to go do clinic duty," Allison said politely, hiding her displeasure with the conversation. "But I'm sure he's told you all about that," she threw in, as her fingers picked angrily at one of the buttons on her lab coat. "Is that all? I've got some more charts to finish up before I go," she lied casually, as she began to rise from her seat.

Lisa Cuddy eyed her subordinate with great interest as if impressed with her uncharacteristically steely demeanor. "Sit down, Allison. There's something else I wanted to talk to you about," she said, firmly.

"Starting now, I'm excusing you for all future clinic duty while you're still with us," she said, as she casually tossed her pen out of her hand and leaned back slightly in her chair. "I've cleared Dr. Foreman to come back full time and he'll start picking up clinic rotations tomorrow. Since there are no new cases in the department, House shouldn't have any reason to complain," she explained flatly, as her fingers laced together and rested on her desk.

"In lieu of working in the clinic here, I'd like for you to assist a visiting physician at the Women's Health Clinic on the college campus for the upcoming week. Dr. Charles will be here tomorrow to organize and oversee a week-long TB screening and free clinic and I want you to be one of the full time on- site doctors assisting him and his team. Think there'll be any problem with that?"

"Sebastian Charles?" Cameron asked, as she tried to piece together the bits of information from her call with Sebastian this morning and this conversation with Cuddy.

Cuddy bit her lip slightly so as to contain a wry smile threatening to make its way across her mouth. "One and the same. He made an offer to me to organize it months ago before being discharged-- as a thank you, of sorts, for us saving his life. It's being funded in part by his financial sponsors as well as the hospital. It'll run one week starting this Monday and then when it's done, you can go back and wrap things up in the Diagnostic department," she said awkwardly, as she waited for some sort of reaction from Cameron.

"I don't have to tell you how TB is making a dramatic reappearance in this country, especially in women and children. I know you've read all the literature. This is just one of the acts of good stewardship for the hospital".

Cameron's head reeled between thoughts of working alongside Dr. Charles and having to disconnect so abruptly from her normal routine before her fellowship ended. "Don't look so thrilled yet," Cuddy threw in, as if reading Cameron's thoughts. "This is not going to be a picnic".

"We're expecting an extremely high volume of walk- in patients seeking screening and treatment, which is why for a week; I'm rerouting the majority of all critical cases that usually go to the Diagnostics office to other physicians within the hospital. Along with a handful of other doctors on staff, House and Foreman will also be giving Dr. Charles a few hours of their time," she said, almost victoriously.

Cameron looked quizzically at Dr. Cuddy. "Does House… know about this yet?" she said, dragging out the last few words carefully as if saying them aloud would spontaneously cause something disastrous to happen somewhere up on the fourth floor.

"I haven't had that pleasure yet," Cuddy said, sarcastically, as her eyes pored over the younger woman. "So for the moment, this will just be between you and me".

"Ok, that's it," Cuddy said, dismissively. "Dr. Charles will pull a meeting together when he gets here tomorrow to go over all the particulars".

Cameron nodded her head in understanding. "I'm actually having dinner with him tonight if he gets in on time," Cameron said, as she scanned Cuddy's face for her immediate disapproval.

"Great. Well, then I'm sure you two will have a lot to talk about," she said, nonchalantly as she went back to her paperwork, thereby dismissing Cameron.


	12. Chapter 12

Cameron decided to take the stairs to help clear her head after the unexpected and rather uncomfortable meeting with Cuddy. She couldn't believe she had just worked her last shift in the hospital clinic and in less than a month, she'd no longer be at the hospital at all.

She was somewhat out of breath and the muscles in her legs were just starting to slightly burn by the time she'd reached the Diagnostics office. House and Foreman were both in the conference room, Foreman sitting at the conference table reading, while House stood at the coffeepot pouring a fresh cup of coffee. Only House looked up when she entered the office.

"Where have you been?" he asked, as he looked at his watch. "And why are you all out of breath?"

Cameron self consciously pressed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Stairs" she said flatly, as she struggled to compose herself and regulate her breathing. "I was just on my way up from the clinic and a meeting with Cuddy".

House's head snapped back up at the mention of Cuddy's name and the thought of why she would want to talk to Cameron. "A bit early for your good-bye gift, isn't it?" he asked, making a face as he turned towards Foreman. "Is she trying to make us look bad? Foreman hasn't even gotten your present from us yet," he said sarcastically, as Foreman struggled not to look annoyed. "So, what exactly did Mommy want?"

Cameron grabbed her bottle of water from her desk and moved back to sit next to Foreman at the conference table. "Just wanted to discuss how many interviews you had lined up and my schedule for the remaining weeks I'm here," she said, trying to be as vague as possible.

House had no sooner thought about asking her what changes Cuddy was talking about when a voice interrupted that thought.

"I hope that's a flexible schedule," Sebastian Charles said, from the doorway. Cameron swung around in her chair to face the direction of his voice, as a smile lit up her face upon seeing him. She rose from her chair and walked over to him, giving him a warm embrace. Foreman joined her and shook Sebastian's hand to say hello before returning to his seat and his journal article.

"I didn't expect to see you so early," Cameron said, still beaming with excitement over seeing him again.

"Well, the flight was better than I anticipated. How much longer do you think you'll be? I'm sure we can convince House to spring you early, looks pretty dead around here to me," Sebastian said, sarcastically.

"Actually, I just finished clinic duty and was about to call it a day," she said softly, realizing she probably didn't have a chance in hell of leaving early now since she hadn't told House about Sebastian coming. From the corner of the conference room, House bristled at the intrusion of someone he considered to be pompous and self serving.

"Came all the way back to thank me again for saving your life or do you just want to get it off your conscience that I was right and you weren't?" House gloated, as he eyed the doctor with suspicion.

"Nope. This time it's strictly business and pleasure," Sebastian said, as his eyes drifted over Cameron's face.

"Well, better come back tomorrow instead. We're a little busy right now-- big cases, lots of tricky diseases to cure," House said, as he shot the younger doctor a dismissive look.

"Actually, that's just what I plan on doing; all week as a matter of fact. But, right now I'm owed a dinner that I've waited a long time to collect. Oh, you don't mind, do you House? Word has it that you're not interested in keeping her, so that kind of makes her a free agent, wouldn't you say? I mean, I'd be an idiot not to take advantage of that," Sebastian's handsome smile covered his face, but his words dug deep.

"Oh-kay," Cameron quickly interjected. "On that note, I think we'll take off," she said lightly, as she glared at Sebastian. "You don't mind me going do you, Dr. House?" she said, hoping she'd diffused the conversation enough to be allowed to leave without any repercussion.

"No," House said, flatly as his gaze dropped down to his coffee mug. "But, be here on time tomorrow-- we're going to cure diseases using all the letters in the alphabet, not just the two Dr. Charles likes," he lobbed back, in Sebastian's direction.

Cameron froze with dread as she reached for her raincoat and bag. Obviously, she hadn't gotten the chance to tell Sebastian neither House nor Foreman knew about the TB free clinic. Sebastian might be holding a small grudge against House, she thought, but he wouldn't undermine Cuddy's authority to present the assignment to them.

Sebastian laughed lightly at House's remark. "Well, sure, but you know I'm just going to have to borrow her again tomorrow, as well," Sebastian said, as he began to help Cameron on with her raincoat.

"Says who?" House asked, defiantly.

"Dr. Cuddy, actually. Didn't she…" Sebastian began, as Cameron turned around awkwardly to face him before she had gotten her remaining arm in the sleeve of the coat. She shook her head gently as she finally slipped her arm into her coat herself. Embarrassed, Sebastian's eyes darted up towards House.

Foreman finally spoke up. "Didn't Dr. Cuddy what?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. We better go," Sebastian said apologetically, as he held the door open for Cameron while pressing his hand gently against the small of her back as she passed through it.

"Good night, I'll see you in the morning," Cameron said, as her eyes locked onto House's before she turned and walked out the door.

"Jeez, that was awkward," Sebastian said, as he jabbed the down button for the elevator. "Just didn't have the same punch I thought it would seeing that he didn't know anything about the clinic next week. I take it you do, though. Right?"

"I'm sorry. Cuddy just filled me in a few minutes before you walked in. She asked me explicitly not to say anything about it to House or Foreman until she did," Cameron bit her bottom lip as the elevator doors swished open and they stepped inside.

"It is great to see you, though. You look terrific. I take it you're feeling better?" she asked, hoping to change the subject and lighten the mood.

"Yeah. I'm feeling great. No, it's good to see you, too. We've got a lot to talk about, don't we? Are you hungry? I have no idea where a good restaurant is around here, so you'll have to pick it," he said, as his mind wandered, replaying the look on House's face over again in his brain.

They rode the rest of the way down to the lobby in silence. "Are you ok?" Cameron said, softly as the elevator door opened.

"Yeah. I'm fine, sorry," he lied, as he realized he couldn't quite shake the feeling that someone was playing fast and loose with him and the truth. "Come on, let's go eat. Those cocktail peanuts just never fill me up," he laughed lightly, as his arm wrapped around Cameron's shoulder.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:** Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks, as always!

"Someone want to tell me what the hell that was all about?" Foreman asked, looking irritated. The muscle in House's jaw twitched as he watched Cameron and Sebastian step inside the elevator. His right hand gripped the handle of his cane tightly, causing his knuckles to turn white. "No idea," he seethed. "But I'm pretty sure I know someone who does," he said defiantly, as he pushed open the heavy glass office door, making his way to the lobby.

Megan saw him coming from the corner of her eye. At the unusual rate of speed he was moving, she guessed this was not going to be a friendly social visit. She rose from her chair, kicking it back behind her as she rounded the desk. "Dr. House, you can't go in there right now. She's in a phone conference with the New Jersey Board of Health," Megan said frantically, as she tried to keep him from storming through the second set of doors to Cuddy's office.

From over Megan's head, House could see Cuddy sitting with her back towards the office doors. "You _cannot _go in there Dr. House," Megan's tone was admirable, as she locked onto his eyes, but she was no match for someone like House.

A small smile began to turn up the corners of his mouth. In one quick backhanded motion with his cane, he knocked over her open bottle of water, spilling the contents all over the piles of important looking papers on her desk. Megan rushed away from the front of the doors to begin frantically dabbing at her desk with tissues.

"Nothing personal," he said, as he pushed open the door. "But I think she'll see me now," and with that he threw back the heavy door, causing it to slam against the wood trim on the wall behind it.

Cuddy swung around quickly in her chair after hearing the door burst open, realizing just who was insane enough to cause that to happen.

"Hang up. We need to talk," he demanded.

From behind her desk, Cuddy mouthed the words "what are you doing?" Rolling his eyes, House leaned over and disconnected the call.

"House!" she bellowed. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Have you completely lost your mind?"

"Megan, get them back on the line, please," she called out anxiously to her secretary, who unbeknownst to her had gone to the restroom to fetch paper towels.

"Get out, House. I don't have time for this right now," she said, hastily pushing buttons on her phone that failed to reconnect the call.

"Nope, not until you fill me in on why Dr. Do-good is insinuating himself around my office and my staff," he demanded.

Abandoning the call, Cuddy looked angry, but unruffled. "Now, I assume when you say 'staff' you're actually referring to Dr. Cameron, no doubt?"

House began to pace back and forth in front of her massive desk. "You know damn well what I'm talking about. Pompous, self- righteous jerks like that do not just drop out of the sky without a reason. He's here for something. What is it?"

Cuddy laughed softly under her breath as she leaned back in her chair to stare at House. "I'm sorry. Did _you _just call him self- righteous? That's rich, don't you think?"

House stopped pacing long enough to lean intrusively over Cuddy's desk. "You're enjoying this aren't you? Don't forget, I know where the provocative toys and lingerie is kept _and_ the spare key to your house. That'll make for some fun at this year's Christmas party," he said, his eyes looking up to ceiling as if previewing the actual event.

The smirk slowly dissolved from Cuddy's mouth. "Oh, relax. Can't a girl enjoy watching you suffer for a few minutes?"

"Oh, I think you've had plenty of time at that," his voice was rough, and very annoyed.

"Right," she said, dragging out the word. "So, here's how it's going to work. Sebastian is in town for a week to run a TB free clinic for us on the college campus. It's something he said he's wanted to do since receiving treatment here-- sort of as a thank you to us for saving his life"

"I saved his life," House lobbed back. If he really wanted to thank _me_, I've got about 10 moving violations that need to just go away quietly," he said, sarcastically.

Cuddy rolled her eyes just imagining how he accrued those. "God, I don't even want to know what that's about".

"He's going to be here the rest of this week to set everything up and then all next week he'll be across campus. You'll hardly even know he's here except for the time you'll be working with him," she slipped in, waiting for his rant to begin.

"What do you mean, working with him?" he balked.

Cuddy smiled victoriously from her safe spot behind her desk. "Ten hours. That's only two hours a day. And, I'll even be so kind as to release you from your clinic duty here during the week. That should still give you plenty of time to torture fellowship applicants and a patient if one shows up. I like pink roses, if you're stumped as to what to get me as a thank you," she said, sarcastically.

House continued on, completely ignoring her subtle suggestion. "Let Foreman do it. He hasn't been doing any clinic duty for months".

Cuddy sighed loudly. "He will be doing it. Ten hours in addition to his hours in the clinic here. Make sure he gets that information, please," she smirked, while House still stewed. "Look, it's not just you- five other specialists will be helping out. And, believe it or not, they all want to. It's a chance to give back to the community," her words dripped with a mixture of condescension and sincerity.

"I don't think you heard me. I have interviews this week- for a position that I have a perfectly good doctor for. Cameron…" he started, before being cut off.

"You have _no_ current cases, House. And, Cameron has been reassigned- temporarily. Let's just say she now serves at the pleasure of Dr. Charles and his team. You can have her back Friday evening of next week," she said, holding her breath as her eyes locked onto his expression.

House threw up his hands to rub his throbbing forehead as he stormed off for the door.

"I expect you to be on-board with this," she called back to him, sternly. "That means showing up at whatever meetings _Doctor_ Charles has, working and acting like a professional physician of this hospital and being at that clinic a minimum of two hours everyday," Cuddy's voice became louder, the closer he got to the door.

"It's not going to happen," he said arrogantly, as he turned back to face her.

Instantly, Cuddy's professional demeanor switched off. Her voice became low and devoid of inflection as she rose from her chair to walk across the room to stand in front of him. "Are you saying that you are disregarding my request for this assignment? Undermining my authority as Dean of Medicine?" her normally blue eyes, turning a steely gray as she stood toe to toe with him.

House swallowed hard as he raised his gaze from her, breaking the lock her eyes had on his. A few seconds went by in silence before he shook his head softly two times. "No," he said, his voice was barely audible. And then he turned and walked out of her office.


	14. Chapter 14

The restaurant Cameron had selected was warm, casual and very Italian. She'd been there once or twice with Foreman and Chase for dinner, but that had been many months ago. It was always busy, even on a weeknight such as this evening. Luckily, a table for two was not as hard to come by as a larger table and their wait to be seated was only a few minutes.

Their table was tucked away in a corner, just off the main dining area. It had a chair on one side of the table and a comfortable booth seat on the other. Sebastian swept his arm out to let Cameron slip into the booth side and then sat next to her as their waitress quickly briefed them on the specials and then brought them two glasses of white wine.

"This is nice," Sebastian said, as his eyes made a quick sweep of the room. "Very you," he commented, his smile lighting up his face.

"Listen, let me just say this before the waitress comes back over, so I don't get sidetracked," he said, nervously. "I want to apologize if I offended you back at the hospital. I know you really care about that place, but it just pisses me off to see a good doctor like you slip through their fingers. So, how are you dealing with all of this, Allison?"

Cameron fingered the delicate stem of the wine glass as she contemplated how best to answer his question. "You don't need to apologize. It's nothing you've done. I have been hurt by all of this, I can't lie about that. But, there really isn't a lot I can do, so there's no use stewing about it".

"Honestly, after House was shot, I lost it a little bit. He's a real bastard most of the time, but in his own twisted little co-dependent way, he held us all together. To see him like that, fighting for life on that office floor--it haunted me," she explained softly, then shaking her head to clear the thought. "And then, Chase left, and it all started to unravel a bit more," she said, taking a slow drink from her glass of wine.

Sebastian's eyes poured over her delicate features, trying to imagine the carnage that had taken place not long after he last saw her.

"I can see where that would all be a bit overwhelming," he added, sympathetically.

Cameron shook her head in agreement. "Oh, but there's more. To top it off, I found out two weeks ago that House and Cuddy were… seeing one another and not only did she want him, but she wanted to end my fellowship as well," Cameron's eyes glossed over Sebastian's caring face. "She's made it quite clear there is no future for me at PPTH, I'm afraid".

Sebastian's gaze dropped to his wineglass on the table. "And House? What does he have to say about all of this?"

"I don't know. There are some days where I think he wants me to stay, but mostly I think he could care less," she said, regretfully.

"Allison, I don't think you believe that's true. Look, House is a lot of things, but he does care about you. He thinks you're a good doctor. He depends on you and Chase and Foreman. I can't imagine this is easy on him. God, what am I saying? Am I actually defending the asshole? I _must_ be jetlagged," he laughed gently, as their waitress set down a large plate of fried calamari and a steaming bowl of marinara sauce between them.

"Do you think you could work with him and not have feelings for him?" he asked soberly, looking directly into her eyes.

Cameron shifted uncomfortably in her seat at the question. "I don't have feelings for him," she said, defensively as she stared at her hands. "Not anymore," she lied again to herself, as she lifted her eyes to hold his gaze.

"Ok, let's change the subject. I finally get you to dinner after six months and the only thing we've found to talk about his House. I'm sure he's reeling with satisfaction in some bar somewhere, don't you think?" he said, lightly.

Cameron smiled and laughed lightly at the thought, but in reality, the very image of that made her quite sad.

"Listen, I know you turned me down once, but things aren't the same as they were then, are they? The offer still stands- come back with me, Allison. The pay is lousy, but I could show you so much about these people. They need our help desperately and they're so appreciative of it. It really makes you feel like a doctor-- a true healer when you're with them".

"Ah, look I know it's my passion-- my dream," he continued. "But I'd like for you to see it someday. Let me show you another side of medicine besides House's way," Sebastian said, his hand reaching out to cover hers. "It could change you".

Cameron gave his fingers a small squeeze. "You know, I really would like to see it. I hope you know that. You do, don't you?" she asked. "I just need some time to think about it, though. I finally set up two interviews today and who knows, I may get there and hate them both. But, I owe it to myself to go and see what they're about, don't I?"

Sebastian cupped her hand between the two of his. "Believe it or not, just saying you'd think about it is good enough for me for now. That's more than I got last time, right? Heck, I'd say that's progress," he said, as his smile lit up his face.

"What? What are you thinking?" he asked, watching her as if she was in deep thought. Cameron blushed. "What am I thinking? Ah, honestly, that this is the first real date I've had in…well, I'd be embarrassed to say how long," her mind quickly flashing back to the horrible date with House. "So, thank you. I appreciate you making me feel special. No one's done that in a long time," she said, sadly.

"Well, I can't figure out for the life of me why a smart, beautiful woman like you would ever have to sit home on a Saturday night. Are all the men in New Jersey just nuts?" he laughed, pretending to scan the restaurant for them.

They sat comfortably at their little table for well over two hours, just talking and enjoying one another's company. Finally, Sebastian called the waitress over, paid the bill and they left the now almost deserted restaurant.

"You passed the street for the hospital," she said anxiously, once they were back in his car. "You haven't forgotten my car is still there, have you?"

"Nope, didn't forget. I'd a…I thought I'd come pick you up in the morning and we could ride to the hospital together. I hate being the new kid in school, so I thought someone like you could show me where the all the cool kids hang out," he said, laughing lightly.

Cameron smiled. "I'm definitely not one of the cool kids, but if you don't mind backtracking from your hotel to come get me, then that would be fine. I'm usually there by 7:15, but I guess since I'll be working for you, I'll let you decide what time," she said, as she helped him navigate their way back to her apartment.

Sebastian cringed. "I'm not sure how much House is or isn't going to know tomorrow morning, so it's probably best if you stick to your normal schedule. I'll be here at 7 and we'll stop for coffee and a bagel," he said, as he pulled his rental car in front of Cameron's apartment house.

She fingered the strap of her bag nervously. "Would you like to come up for coffee?" she asked, awkwardly.

Sebastian's eyes were warm and obviously touched by her offer. "I better not. It's been a long day and I 'm sure there's some sort of hospital regulation about that sort of thing," he said, sarcastically.

Cameron smiled at the reference to her penchant for following rules. "I understand. Maybe some other time before you go, then?" she asked.

"I'll be looking forward to it" he said, as he picked imaginary lint off his slacks. "Allison," he said, abruptly. "Do you think I could …" Cameron interrupted his words by nodding her head. "Yes," she said softly, before his lips gently touched hers. From under his breath, Sebastian groaned as their lips slowly separated. "Come on. Let me walk you to your door before I get too carried away," he said, as Cameron giggled lightly.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: ** Sorry about the delay, everyone. It's been a crazy week. Thanks for sticking with the story. Hope you like where it's going.

"Unbelievable," Wilson thought to himself, as he surveyed the mountain of dirty dishes threatening to overtake House's kitchen sink. "I think these are the same dishes that were here three months ago when I moved out".

"Good plan. Wash a few of those up so you'll have a clean pan to make me some eggs and a couple pancakes," House said sarcastically, buttoning his shirt from the kitchen doorway behind Wilson.

Wilson cringed and turned to look at his hopelessly disorganized friend. "Ok, not going to happen. And, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't know where to begin. How can you live like this? Even getting some peanut butter from the jar requires a clean spoon at some point, House".

House shrugged as he slipped his arms into his blazer. "When the real stuff runs out, I restock from the cafeteria. Never underestimate the functionality of a spork," he sniped. "Besides, it's not my fault your maid quit coming around".

Wilson began to rub imaginary knots out of his neck. "You threatened to deport her and her entire family when she dusted the guitars on the wall. And, she's not even an illegal! If you want someone to come in twice a month and clean this hovel, you're on your own".

House looked completely unruffled by Wilson's outrage. "So, no breakfast then?"

Wilson turned out the kitchen light, walking past House to pick up his newspaper from the coffee table. "Fine. Tell me why I had to drive you into work this morning, and I'll stop at McDonalds".

House slung his backpack over his right shoulder and looked at Wilson in disgust. "McDonalds? Are you trying to kill me? If you're not going to make me pancakes and eggs, the least you can do is take me to IHOP or Waffle House. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day".

"Take it or leave it," Wilson said, smugly.

"Fine. But, you're paying".

"Naturally," and with that, Wilson pulled the locked door of House's townhouse shut behind them.

Wilson politely thanked the cashier at the drive- through window before rolling up his window. "So, let's have it. You've got your egg McMuffin, and hash browns, too. And, I'm begging you, don't eat the hash browns in the car, I still haven't gotten the last greasy thing you ate in here off of the leather seats yet. Now, why couldn't you drive yourself in today?"

Bits of cheese and egg sandwich fell from House's mouth as he tried to speak. "I needed to talk to you away from the hospital…privately".

"Yes, because our offices aren't due to be swept for electronic bugs until next Friday, right?"

House crammed more of the English muffin sandwich into his mouth, causing the right side of his cheek to puff out like a squirrel's. "What do you know about why Sebastian Charles is in town?"

"Ok, first of all-- use a napkin, please," Wilson said, in an annoyed voice, as he shoved several white napkins onto House's lap. "And, all I know is that Cuddy told me yesterday afternoon that he was coming to run a TB clinic on the college campus and that we are to give him our complete support," Wilson lied, trying to fly under House's impeccably honed 'shit- detector' radar.

House eyed his friend intently. "Did she ask you to work it this week or was that only my office that had that honor?"

"I'm working a couple hours each day as my schedule permits".

"As your schedule permits? What the hell does that mean?" House bellowed, as he shoved the last bite of egg McMuffin into his already overstuffed mouth.

"Why are you getting so worked up about this? She's excused you from regular clinic duty next week. And, it's just two hours a day, House. You should be thanking her".

A small smile snaked its way across House's mouth. "How did you know she excused me from my regular clinic duty?"

"Because she said she did when she excused me, as well," Wilson lobbed back. "What, do you think she's got an ulterior motive? Making you act like a doctor and actually treat sick people is some sort of crazy punishment for breaking up with her?"

"Just don't believe in coincidences, that's all. Especially when they involve me or my team", he sulked.

Wilson closed his eyes briefly to avoid rolling them in exasperation. "House, you have no new cases. You've only got three interviews this week and she's letting you off the hook from having to see any other patients for almost ten days. Shut up and be thankful she's not making you work there any longer than she is".

House stared out the window in silence as Wilson pulled his car into his parking space in the hospital parking garage.

"What? You're mad at me, now?"

House roughly swung the car door. "Nope. Just find it very interesting," he scoffed.   
"That's the same load of crap Cuddy gave me". House turned back to smile at him, and then quickened his pace, leaving Wilson far behind.


	16. Chapter 16

House could see that Cameron and Foreman were already in the office as he stepped out of the elevator. He had to admit that he was more than a little surprised that Cameron was actually there and not off somewhere with Sebastian. The thought of the two of them going out the night before irritated him more than he ever expected.

"Foreman," House bellowed. "In my office".

Foreman shot Cameron an odd sideways look before levering himself from his chair at the conference table and following House into his office.

"What's up?"

House threw his backpack at the foot of his desk and sat down dramatically in his chair. "You left last night before I had a chance to give you the Cliff notes on my meeting with Cuddy.

Foreman leaned back in the chair opposite House's desk, crossing his right leg over his left knee. "Does this have something to do with Dr. Charles, because Cameron's been even tighter lipped than usual this morning. Don't tell me Cuddy's asked him to work in Diagnostics with us," he laughed.

House tossed his cherished red and gray ball back and forth between the palms of his hands. "Close, except we get the pleasure of working _for _him," House lobbed back.

Foreman sat quietly, searching House's face for clarification.

"Dr. Hypocrite will be here for a week to run a TB free clinic on the college campus. You and I have had the good fortune as being tapped to work two hours each day at his good deed sweatshop, extolling his virtues while helping him cure the masses. Oh, and you've still got to do your normal rotation through the clinic downstairs as well--that's a little gift from Cuddy".

Foreman didn't look as displeased as House would have liked. "God, please tell me you're not happy about his. Bad enough for an entire week I've got to look at Suzy Sunshine out there eagerly waiting to cure each and every case of TB in New Jersey. I don't think I could take it if you do the same thing".

Foreman grinned and finally spoke up. "So, Cameron's working the clinic too, I assume?"

"Yep. Except that Cuddy's reassigned her to Charles for the entire week. I guess she figures Cameron's not going to be around here long enough to actually produce any more life-saving diagnoses for this office".

Foreman laughed softly under his breath. "Well, it's not exactly like we're swimming in cases up here".

House rolled his eyes dramatically. "Oh, not you too. Jeez, you're all I've got left. You better not turn traitor on me, or I'll tell Cuddy you still can't find your own ass to wipe it or tie your own shoelaces".

Foreman sighed heavily. "House, you're overreacting. Why do you let Dr. Charles get to you so much? You know you're a better doctor than him any day of the week. Why do you keep giving him way more credit than he deserves?"

House returned his ball to its circular, footed holder on his desk. "Just find us a case while you're down in the clinic this week. I don't care how diagnostically boring it is. I can make anything sound good enough to string Cuddy along-- just get us something and fast or else she'll also have us working the line at the YMCA soup kitchen by next Friday, just for good measure".

Foreman laughed as he rose from his chair. "Yeah, ok House. I'm headed down to the clinic now; I'll see what I can do.

Without any cases in the department to work on, Foreman had stayed downstairs in the clinic a few hours later than he was required. House had spent most of the morning sitting in his office staring at the stack of new fellowship applicants Cameron had meticulously organized by order of experience and compatibility. He glanced quickly over to the conference room and in particular, Cameron's desk.

The day had turned out to be much more painless than House had anticipated. As expected, Sebastian had called a meeting for the following afternoon, but had stayed out of the Diagnostics office and most importantly, away from Cameron. Wilson had heard a rumor from one of the nurses that Cameron and Sebastian had ridden into work that morning, but House hadn't worked up the courage to pester Cameron about it.

She also hadn't shared any news on the status of her interviews since he'd seen her looking at the mail in the elevator and as much as he wanted to know about it, a bigger part of him dreaded actually hearing the news that she had found another position. Of course, the worst possible scenario would be that Sebastian would play on her amiable disposition and convince her to go to Africa.

"Let me guess, bikini-clad Angelina Jolie playing frisbee on the beach with a topless Carmen Electra…" Cameron's voice shook him from the thought he was having of her sweating her spectacular ass off in some nameless, disease ridden village in Africa.

"And then you always show up and ruin my fun," House recovered flawlessly, as he swung his legs back down to the floor from where they'd been resting on the top of his desk.

"What? Idiot boy hasn't figured out what to do with you yet?" he jabbed, staring at her form as she leaned against the doorframe between his office and the conference room.

Cameron exhaled sharply and clenched her jaw to keep from sparing with him on his own level. "For your information, he's been in meetings all day with Cuddy and the Board of Health".

House leaned back in his chair, twirling a pencil between his long fingers. "He's been here a whole day and he's not saving people yet? I'm shocked he hasn't been treating people from that very expensive hotel room he's got across town. Must be hard to go back to a dirt floor, grass hut once you've slept a week in the Presidential suite," he seethed.

Cameron tilted her head disapprovingly. "I'm sure I wouldn't know about that," she lobbed back. "Anyway," she said, trying to change the subject abruptly. "I wanted to give you a quick rundown of who you're interviewing tomorrow before I call them to confirm their appointments".

House laughed lightly under his breath. "Right. Ok, let's get this over with," using his best annoyed tone as he swept out his hand, offering her a seat in front of his desk.

Cameron put on her glasses and pushed her skirt up slightly as she sat down, crossing her long legs. "First one, 9:00 am. Dr. Michael Parker," she said, pulling the file from the stack and putting a bright yellow sticky note on it with '9am-- sharp!' written on it. "Immunologist, board certified with two previous fellowships in Oncology and Infectious Diseases at Sloane-Kettering and Johns Hopkins, respectively".

When House failed to acknowledge that he had processed the candidate's information, Cameron moved onto the next folder. "Second interview, 10:45am-- Dr. Janice Bertram. She's an Immunologist, also board certified, previous fellowships in Nephrology and Emergency Medicine at University of Virginia Hospital at Charlottesville. And, the last one is at 1:00pm, Dr. Jeffrey Peng…"

House fidgeted impatiently in his chair. "Yeah, yeah. I get the picture".

Cameron laid the three folders on the desk in front of him as she took her glasses off and dropped them into the pocket of her lab coat. Her eyes pored over his frame as he got up from the desk to stand in front of the window. "House…" she started, softly.

"Where will you be tomorrow when they come in?" his voice was equally as soft and low, as he cut her off.

Cameron rose from her seat to stand beside the desk. "I'm not really sure, since I don't have to cover your clinic duty anymore. There's a possibility Dr. Charles will have something for me to do".

House turned quickly to look back at Cameron. He stiffened at the mention of Sebastian's name and the muscle in his jaw began to twitch as he locked his eyes onto her face.

As if to protect herself from his steely gaze, Cameron pulled her arms up to cross her chest. She moved to stand beside him, her eyes now fixed on his. "I still work for _you_, House. If there's something you want me to do tomorrow, tell me and I'll do it".

Cameron stepped closer to him, placing her hand on the back of his arm. House pulled back his arm from her touch and then raised it to knock over several books and a heavy bookend from the cabinet behind his desk, sending them crashing onto the floor.

Before she could get a word out, he angrily pushed past her and walked out the door.


	17. Chapter 17

Author's Note: My apologies for the delay, everyone. I've had a loss in my family this past week . I hope to have another chapter soon.

Cameron stood motionless in House's office, completely thrown by his sudden shift in mood. Her head pounded, as the stress from constantly maintaining a facade that everything was alright, gripped tightly around her temples. She sighed, and slowly began to look around his office. How funny, she thought, that over the last two years, she'd come to memorize every book and odd personal knick knack.

She knew the way he liked things arranged on his desk and the peculiar places he hid his vicodin. She could tell how deeply in thought he was by subtle actions, like whether or not he closed his blinds and could usually predict his mood from the number of trips he made, or did not make throughout the day, to the coffeemaker. His office always smelled the same, a heady combination of his cologne, coffee and a vague hint of Scotch. It was masculine, arrogant and unequivocally, House.

She moved to stand behind his chair, running her hands over the smooth curves of its back before pushing it forward, tucking it under the lip of his desk. She self- consciously swept her fingers under the bottom lashes of each eye, wiping away any possible trace of moisture and smudged liner before walking out the door.

For the first time since House had been shot, Cameron felt completely lost. Without a case to work on, she was unable to retreat to her usual places of comfort. There were no tests to run in the lab, no patients to examine in the clinic and worst of all, no bidding of House's to occupy her time. She vacillated for a moment in front of the elevators, trying to decide whether to wait for the next car or take the stairs.

She closed her eyes and laughed softly under her breath when she realized it didn't really matter, since she had no place to go.

Nose deep in a patient's file, Wilson passed her on the way to his office. "Oh, Allison," he began, after seeing her slim form from the corner of his vision. "Dr. Charles is looking for you, something about going over to the Women's Clinic with him to check things out".

Without looking up at his face, she nodded her head and mumbled a quick, "thank you".

Wilson dropped the patient folder down to his side and gently reached out to touch her shoulder. "You okay?"

Cameron quickly looked up at his face before lowering her gaze once again to the lit elevator button. "I'm fine, thanks".

His eyes scanned over her puffy eyes and pink nose. "You've been crying. What happened?"

Instinctively, she moved her hands into her lab coat pockets. "No. It's nothing, really. It doesn't matter," she shrugged.

Wilson gently took hold of her arm, directing her away from the elevators to the doorway of his office. "If there is one thing I do get right about women, it's when they've been crying. I've made enough of them do it, I suppose. This wouldn't happen to be about House by any chance, would it?"

She smiled softly as she shook her head and lifted her face to his. "I don't know if I can explain it, exactly. It seems like ever since the shooting, I've felt as if everyday has been played at fast forward speed and I don't know how to stop it. It just hit me that in a little more than ten days, everything here will be in my past". The smile slowly left her face as she held his gaze, her eyes slightly red from trying to hold back her tears.

Wilson gently tapped the patient file against the side of his leg as he struggled for something appropriate to say. "I'm afraid I don't know how to make this right, Allison," his voice barely audible, even as close as they were to one another.

"Well, that makes two of us, anyway," she replied flatly, as she started to turn away.

"You may not think it, but this does tear him up. It's something he can't fix… can't remedy. You know that, don't you?"

Cameron turned slowly back to face Wilson. She ran a small, thin hand through her hair, pushing several loose strands around the back of her neck and over her shoulder.

She shook her head, softly. "You really think he wants to fix this, Dr. Wilson?"

"Yes, more than I think even he knows".

Cameron turned and walked to the stairwell entrance, pushing the door slightly open with her hip. "Then I guess that'll just have to be enough," she said, before she disappeared into the stairwell.

Sebastian excused himself from the conversation he was having with another Doctor in the lobby when he saw Cameron coming down the stairs.

"Dr. Cameron. I was just on my way up to find you. Are you busy? I was hoping you could walk over to the Women's Center with me. And, I need to ask you something…something that would involve getting dressed up" he said softly, as he brushed the side of his face up close to Cameron's ear.

Cameron managed a small smile as she studied his face. She wasn't sure why he had reappeared into her life at this particular time, but she decided it somehow had to be for a reason. She might not have control over having to leave House or the feelings she still had for him, but she could feel in control of where things went with Sebastian.

Sebastian's smile started to fade as he waited for her response. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you'd been crying. Did House say something?"

"No, nothing like that," she lied. "I guess I'm just a little emotional this week, that's all. And, I'm not busy," she said, abruptly changing the subject. "I'd be happy to go with you over to the Women's Center. As it turns out, I don't have a thing to do for the rest of the day. Ready?"

Sebastian debated with himself whether to press her any further, deciding it was probably best to change the subject, as she had just done. "Well, let's go then," he said, his hand lightly touching the small of her back as he led them towards the doors. Cameron looked back at him as they started down the sidewalk.

"So, now about getting all dressed up..." she smiled, as she tried to push her thoughts of House down deeper to the back of her mind.

From his balcony, James Wilson watched the couple as they made their way across the street towards the college campus. His gaze shifted to House's office, noting that he'd already shut his blinds. Not exactly a good sign, he thought to himself as he walked slowly back into his office. His body dropped heavily into the seat of his desk chair. For the first time, he began to regret trying to manipulate the paths of two people for whom he cared about very deeply.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's note: ** Please drop me a review if you can. I haven't had much feeback for the last couple of chapters. Thanks so much.

A light, misty rain started to fall on Cameron and Sebastian as they walked across the deeply hued green grass of the campus. Cameron pulled her lab coat tighter across her chest to keep her blouse from getting damp. Not enough rain for an umbrella, she thought, but just enough to be annoying.

"So how do you feel about dull, corporate parties?" Sebastian asked, trying to eye Cameron for a reaction as they quickened their walk towards the Women's Center.

Cameron smiled. "Well, if that's how you're going to sell it, I think you need to work on your pitch. Are you asking me to go with you?"

Sebastian laughed uncomfortably. "Point taken. I'm a little rusty in my dating skills, but I promise to brush up on them if you say yes".

No one can be this nice, Cameron thought before giving him her answer. "I'd love to go. When is it?"

"Well, now see, that might be a problem. It's Saturday night…this Saturday night. You know, I haven't lived out in the desert long enough to forget that ladies need a lot of time to find just the right dress".

Cameron looked at him quizzically. "Well, wait a minute. Just how formal are we talking, here?"

A grin moved across Sebastian's face. "It's actually more like a cocktail party, presentable attire, but nothing too formal. I know its short notice, but I'd love it if you could go with me. There'll be a lot of people there from the foundations that sponsor me—many directly involved in the heath care efforts on the ground. They're great people to talk to, once you weed them out from the stuffy corporate types, that is. I think you'd enjoy hearing what they have to say".

Cameron laughed quietly at his nervousness. "No, it's fine. I'm low maintenance, really. I think I have something in my closet that'll work; I'd love to go".

Sebastian looked completely taken aback by her response. "Well, good for you. See, I knew I had the right girl".

Cameron smiled awkwardly at the compliment. "Does the party have something to do with the TB Clinic?"

Sebastian nodded. "Several of the companies that support our cause and subsidize the medicines we need will be there to publicize the clinic. It's shameless, but it pays the bills. That doesn't turn you off, does it?"

"No. I suppose it has to come from somewhere, doesn't it?"

Sebastian held the door of the Women's Center open for Cameron, his voice trailing off as she passed through. "Yep. I'm afraid there's a price to be paid for everything we want in life".

Only one person sat in the waiting area of the Women's Center when Cameron and Sebastian arrived. The building was old, but clean and had a lot of big, open spaces. Cameron immediately thought that with a delivery of more chairs and folding cloth dividers, it could easily be transformed into a clinic capable of seeing hundreds of patients.

An older woman wearing a short white lab coat came out from one of the back offices to greet them. "Dr. Charles. I'm Claire Williams, the director of the center. We spoke on the phone; it's a pleasure to finally meet you. We can't tell you how honored we are that you're here to help us".

Sebastian shook her outstretched hand and then swept his back towards Cameron to introduce her. "This is Dr. Allison Cameron. She's an Immunologist and Diagnostician over at the hospital. She'll be working with us here all week".

Claire smiled as her eyes ran over Cameron's form. "Dr. Cameron, thank you so much for your help".

"My pleasure. I'm looking forward to it. I'm sorry, but I was just wondering where all the people are. Did we come on a slow day?"

Claire laughed lightly as she directed them into her small office. "We close in about twenty minutes, so if you were looking for the rush, you missed it. We've seen about ten students today, that's about a little less than average. We deal with mostly your garden variety of complaints—possible pregnancies, birth control advice, allergies and medication management. And, then there are those that come in for some counseling. I told Dr. Cuddy last week that I've only got a staff of five, so anything you all can provide will be greatly appreciated".

Sebastian looked around at the walls of the office. "Don't worry about a thing. We'll have plenty of nurses and physicians here each day and we'll bring in enough chairs and tables to accommodate everyone. We've got a meeting in an hour over at the hospital; I just wanted to have an idea of what the facility looked like beforehand. Do you mind giving us a quick tour?"

Thirty minutes later, Cameron and Sebastian had said their goodbyes to Claire and started back for the hospital. They walked for a few minutes before Cameron broke the awkward silence. "She seemed nice. There's definitely plenty of room there. We should be able to see a lot of people, don't you think?"

"Oh, yeah. I think it's going to be fine," he said, somewhat distracted by his own thoughts before he abruptly stopped in his tracks, pulling her along with him under the canopy of a large tree. "Do you have any idea why I'm here, Allison?"

His sudden change of demeanor threw Cameron for a moment. Self-consciously, she crossed her arms across her chest. "To run the TB clinic. Is there another reason?"

Sebastian searched her eyes for a moment before he shook his head. "No".

"Sebastian, what's going on? What did you mean by that?"

"It's nothing. Come on, we've got a meeting to get started," he said, smiling as he gently held her arm the rest of the way to the hospital.

The cool air from the hospital lobby made Cameron's clothing feel damp and heavy against her skin. She ran a hand lightly over her now lifeless hair, pushing one side back behind her ear.

"I think I'm going to grab a new lab coat and freshen up a little before the meeting. I guess I'll see you there?"

Sebastian suddenly felt badly for dragging her halfway across the campus on such a miserable day. "Oh, right. Sorry about that, I had no idea it was that damp outside. I'll see you in a bit".

Cameron smiled softly before turning towards the stairwell. As he watched her begin to ascend the stairs, he wondered if asking her out again had been the right thing to do. Sadly, he could see that her tough exterior was starting to crumble a little and he wondered if he was actually causing her more harm than good.

The auditorium normally reserved for intern lectures was only partially filled when Cameron arrived. She noticed that physicians and various medical staff had obediently begun to fill into the first few rows. Her eyes quickly scanned the crowd for House and Foreman, but then realized if House did show up, he would be more than fashionably late. Finally, she took a seat several rows back from the main group.

Lisa Cuddy took the stage right on time. Cameron admired how confidently she always appeared no matter how large or small the audience. She commanded the podium as she began to give the microphone a few quick tests before officially starting the meeting.

Her words were clipped, at best. "If I can get everyone's attention, please. Let's start on time so we can finish on time. I know everyone here has patients to take care of".

The room quickly fell silent. "Let me just start by saying thank you to each and every one of you here this afternoon. It is not without notice that your participation in this event will require a large sacrifice of time and commitment, and for that, I thank you".

Cuddy swept her hand back towards Sebastian who stood slightly behind her. "I'd also like to thank Dr. Charles for donating his time and expertise as well as the financial contributions of his many committed sponsors. I think I speak for everyone when I say our community is truly grateful. So, on that note, I give you Dr. Sebastian Charles".

As Sebastian began to address the group, a warm breath tickled her cheek and blew strands of hair away from the side of Cameron's face. "You know, you'll never be able to throw your panties at him from back here. I hate to be judgey, but as a groupie, you really blow," House said, sarcastically, as he leaned closely over the back of Cameron's seat.

Cameron turned her face quickly towards his voice, her nose almost bumping up against the unshaven stubble on his cheek. His eyes seemed insanely blue as they locked onto her, paralyzing her. Cameron struggled to regain composure. "I can see him fine from where I am. Although, I should have known the crowd would be surlier the further back I sat. And, just for the record, I'm not wearing panties".

A faint grin began to curl the corner of his mouth. "Good come back, pithy".

Cameron closed her eyes tightly. "What do you want, House?"

"I don't want anything. I'm just here for the meeting, as ordered. I'm nothing if not compliant," he lobbed back.

On stage, Sebastian droned on, seemingly oblivious to the disruptive banter taking place halfway up the small auditorium.

"Hmm…yes, compliant is exactly how I would describe you," she threw back, as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Cameron jumped slightly as House made an overly loud and exaggerated shushing sound, which caused several people in the row two down from them to turn around abruptly in their seats. Sebastian lost his train of thought for a moment as he unsuccessfully searched for the cause of the disturbance before regaining his place.

"You're such a child," Cameron seethed at him under her breath.

House leaned forward in his seat once again, his chin hovering closely over her right shoulder. "That must be why you're so attracted to me. Your physical age and my emotional age are perfect for each other, but while I often act like a sniveling child, I've never wanted to date one".

Cameron could feel the blood under her skin run hot across her chest and neck. Her hands began to shake even though she was gripping them tightly around the arm rests of her seat. Without thought, she pushed herself to her feet and stepped out into the aisle.

A strong hand grabbed onto her wrist as she attempted to make her way past him. "Sit down, Dr. Cameron; our illustrious speaker isn't done yet".

"No, but I am. I'm more than done," she lobbed back, pulling her wrist roughly out of his grasp as she ran towards the exit.

"That's it?" he yelled out to her a minute later from outside the closed door of the auditorium. "That's what you're going to let me get away with? If I'd known it was going to be that easy, I would have used that one two years ago".

Cameron repeatedly jabbed at the elevator button as he spoke. Her face was hot with anger and embarrassment. To her credit, not a single tear dared to fill her eyes.

"You just can't help yourself, can you?" she said, turning abruptly to face him. "You've always got to be in control...put me in my place. I guess firing me unceremoniously or taking up with Cuddy wasn't good enough for you when you knew all along I still…" Her voice trailed off, making her incapable of finishing her thought. "I guess it just wasn't quite as satisfying until you could push the knife far enough in to finish me off".

House stood motionless trying to process the severity of her words. In that one moment, he realized he had crossed a line; a line for which he knew even Cameron could never forgive him. His voice was low and his breath ragged as he reached out to touch her arm. "Cameron…"

"Don't," she threw her arm back, as she deflected his touch. "Don't you dare patronize me," she seethed under her breath as she turned for the stairwell.

"Cam...wait a minute. Will you wait? Cameron!"

"House!" Wilson bellowed, as he grabbed onto House's arm. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

House shrugged off the grasp angrily as he watched the stairwell door close behind Cameron. "Stay out of this, Jimmy. It's none of your business".

Wilson stared at his feet before slowly raising his eyes back up to look at his friend. "You're right. It wasn't before," he said, somberly, "but it is now, House".

House turned around to study Wilson's more than guilty looking body language.

"Leave her alone House, just leave her alone" and with that Wilson walked slowly back towards the auditorium, leaving House to stand silently alone in the middle of the empty hallway.


	19. Chapter 19

Cuddy's office was somewhat dark when Wilson walked by the empty secretary's desk in the outer office. He could see that the blinds were open, but the overcast day did little to pull sunlight into the large room. A small, stained glass lamp on her desk spilled a warm glow of amber and garnet colored light onto her pale features and dark hair as she worked. Wilson hesitated for a moment at the large wood and glass door before gently letting it swing closed behind him.

"Dr. Wilson. To what do I owe the pleasure? Got any updates on our little project on the fourth floor? Oh, I saw House at Sebastian's meeting, that's a good sign" Cuddy said, without looking up, as she pulled various papers together before signing them and placing them in neatly configured stacks along the side of her desk.

Wilson watched her silently, wondering what would be the right words to make her separate from the paperwork on her desk.

Conceding that she was not going to give him her undivided attention, he finally spoke up. "Lisa, we need to put a stop this. I think we've made a huge mistake".

Cuddy gave his words a moment to sink in before she acknowledged him. Quietly, she put her pen down before looking up. "Why?" she scoffed. "Because House is suffering a little? Oh, come on, this is what makes him excel. Besides, it only hurts a little at first, but it will be the best thing for everyone involved, you'll see".

Wilson began to pace back and forth in front of Cuddy's desk. "No, it's not going to be the best thing for everyone. It's gone too far, anyone can clearly see that. The question is why can't you? We need to tell them, Cuddy. Either we do it together or I'll do it by myself".

Cuddy shook her head as she pushed her chair away from her desk. "You'll do no such thing. I know what I'm doing. You just have to be patient and give it a little more time. You'll see… it's going to all work itself out and then everyone will go back to their jobs and their dull little lives and I'll have my hospital back, the way it should be".

Wilson's hand pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're…you're actually enjoying this, aren't you? Watching two people get banged up just for the hell of it. You can't help yourself".

"Oh, please," she said, as she lowered herself back down into her chair. "House brought this on himself. If he's in doubt as to how he feels about Cameron, this will only speed things along. And, then one of two things will happen. He'll either decide he wants her and they'll try a relationship that will be doomed to crash and burn or he'll realize he never really wanted her and she leave quietly on schedule—maybe even with Dr. Charles. Either way, he'll go back to being his brilliant but miserable self and I'll get my Diagnostics department back. See the pattern? It's a win-win".

Wilson was dumbfounded. "No, Lisa. Nothing about this is a win-win situation. They're miserable. How can you be so cavalier about all of it? You know, there's more than one person's feelings involved here. Someone in this equation _is_ going to lose".

"Then why did you agree to it? You thought it was pretty darn clever a few weeks ago. You wanted to help House see the light just as much as anyone. Why the cold feet now?"

"Yes, well I should know better than to trust in diabolical plans hatched over a meal of four back to back martinis. Besides, I didn't think it would turn out like this. If we stop it now, there's a good chance they'll all forgive us".

Cuddy rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I should have known you wouldn't have the stomach for this. No one is going to get hurt, James. Think of it like an intervention. Neither Cameron nor House knows how to move on. At least this way, they'll either see they have feelings for one another or she'll leave, as planned.

Wilson stared in disbelief at Cuddy . "You know," he said, wagging his pointer finger at her, "This isn't about them at all. Ah, how stupid could I be? This is about you…you and your feelings for House. I think somewhere along the line you wanted more from him, but you realized he couldn't give it to you, not when his affections belonged to someone else…have _always_ belonged to someone else all along. You couldn't let it go and now you want to hurt him for it".

Cuddy stared at Wilson in silence as an awkward smile crept across her mouth and a light burst of nervous laughter escaped from her throat.

"What? Don't be ridiculous. We were two adults that entered into a consensual relationship that didn't work out. I was not then and have never been in love with him".

"No, maybe not. But, you did want something from him. You'd made an emotional investment in him. What could make someone more indebted to another person than bringing them back from the precipice of death and giving them a second chance at a better life? You gambled on the possibility that he would want to try and repay you. And, what would be better for your lifestyle than a child with a loosely defined commitment from its father?"

"That's the real win-win, isn't it?" he added softly, as he leaned across her desk, his eyes locking onto hers. "To get a baby and a lifetime of obligation from House. You just didn't plan on him not wanting to give that part of himself away and by the time you realized it, you knew you could never have it".

Cuddy pushed herself up roughly from her chair and walked past him to the large office door. "Am I through being cross-examined, counselor? And, so what, maybe some of that is true. It still doesn't change the way things are".

She casually turned her wrist over to look at her watch. "I've got a meeting," she said, as she pulled the wooden door open. "We're all done here. If you change your mind Dr. Wilson, then this conversation never happened. But if you tell him, he'll never forgive you—trust me on that. I can live with him hating me, but can you?"

Wilson turned his face up towards the ceiling as if to better comprehend her last words before returning his gaze to hers. "Dr. Cuddy," he said, as he brushed past her and out the door.


	20. Chapter 20

_**Author's note: I wanted to thank everyone who wrote to me asking about the remaining chapters to this story. Your comments kept me going over what was a difficult couple of months for me. I apologize for keeping the story—and all of you hanging. I hope you enjoy where it's going and as always, I appreciate all of your comments. gl**_

House glanced at his watch as the elevator slowly climbed to the fourth floor. It was ten minutes to nine, just slightly early for his first interview of the day and definitely late if one were to ask Cameron. The lights to the conference room were on and there was an obvious appearance of order about the workspace. He could see as he passed by the adjoining glass wall to his office that ridiculously tiny plates, napkins and a covered tray of assorted bagels had been thoughtfully set out on the long table.

He dropped his bag abruptly behind his desk as he looked over the three candidate files neatly laid out, each with their own appropriate sticky note. He slowly ran his finger over the words '9am sharp!' written in bold ink but with a girly flourish. There was only one person he knew that could possibly get away with such a blatant exclamation of distrust in his short-term memory for all things irrelevant.

The long blinds on the wall rattled and gently swayed against the glass as Foreman breezed through the doorway. "Wilson's going over the first candidate's file in his office. He said he'd be here in about five minutes".

House nodded as he reached over to turn on the small lamp on his desk. "Great. So, with any luck this poor bastard will be the one and we can call the rest off for today," he said, unconvincingly, as he crumbled up the yellow sticky note from the first file and tossed it into the trash bin.

Foreman took a deep breath as he plopped himself down in one of the chairs directly across from House's desk. "Well, if my interview with you can be used as a measure of how this one will go, we should be done with all three in twenty minutes flat".

"Just because it was quick, doesn't mean I wasn't thorough," House quipped. "Besides, I knew everything I needed to know about you before you even stepped foot in this office. The only thing you can't tell from a piece of paper is how proficient a person will be at taking crap; more precisely, my crap. Gotta rank that quality right up there with undying loyalty."

Foreman laughed lightly under his breath. "Well, that explains Cameron and Chase. What was the requirement for me?"

"Servitude," House smirked.

Foreman threw back his head as he rolled his eyes. "Naturally".

A slight smile began to turn up the corners of House's mouth. "I like to think of you as my special project; my gift back to society, if you will. Don't worry, though, I cleared it with Human Resources. I'm allowed light, racially ambiguous needling as long as we hug afterwards".

"Ah… that's more Wilson's area. Feel free to give him mine," Foreman said, awkwardly leafing through his copy of the candidate's file.

House glanced again at his watch; it was almost 9:00.

"Has anyone seen Cameron?"

Foreman put on his best confused look as he lowered the file to look at House. "Cameron? I wasn't aware that she was part of the interview process".

House anxiously tapped his long fingers along the edge of his desk. "She's not," he said, dismissively.

From over Foreman's shoulder House could make out Cuddy's familiar figure briskly walking towards his door with what he could only guess to be his 9:00 interview. "Oh, here we go," his voice was calm, but clearly annoyed.

Cuddy seemed to naturally overpower the interviewing doctor even though he was at least half a foot taller than she. "Dr. Gregory House, Dr. Eric Foreman, this is Dr. Michael Parker. Naturally, your reputation proceeds itself House, but I've briefed Dr. Parker on your unorthodox interview skills and work habits, all the same," she jabbed, as she placed a reassuring hand on the back of Parker's shoulder.

"Good luck, Dr. Parker, it was great meeting you. We'll be in touch," she said, lightly, as she shot House a quick look of warning before turning to leave.

Wilson held the door open for her as she turned to leave. "Rein him in, please".

"Dr. Wilson!" House bellowed. "Just in time. This is Dr. Michael Porter, our first victim of the day. Few men have been so brave Porter-- which is why the last doctor in this position was a woman".

Wilson cringed slightly as he made his way towards the doctor to shake his hand. "Dr. Porter, it's a pleasure," he said, as he grasped the young doctor's hand in his own. "You've been warned, haven't you?" he asked, discreetly. "I mean, naturally you have Dr. Foreman and my apologies up front, but compared to actually working with House, this interview will seem like a preschool inquiry".

The very tall Michael Porter smiled nervously, but managed a firm "I'm prepared". Wilson nodded his head unconvincingly and then motioned towards the empty chair between his and Foreman's.

Exactly nine and one half minutes later, Wilson returned from walking Dr. Porter to the elevators. Foreman sat silently, staring at an imaginary spot on the wall over House's left shoulder. "Well," Wilson said, breaking the silence of the room, "I think it's safe to say he _wasn't _prepared," he sighed, as he sank down into one of the empty chairs. "I've got to hand it to you, House. I thought vaguely alluding to his sexual preference and whether or not he thought his mother would be good in bed was a brilliant touch in proving he'd be crazy to work for you".

"Oh, relax," House said, rocking his fingers back and forth over the buttons on his Gameboy. "He was clearly conflicted sexually. How can you be a good diagnostician if you can't even figure out your own sexuality? If anything, I did him a favor. He's probably calling his mommy right now to tell her the news—or to ask her out on a date. So, who's up next?"

Foreman lifted the next file folder from the stack off of the desk. "Janice Bertram. So, if her hair is too short or she's wearing slacks are you going to humiliate her, too?"

"No, that would just be rude. If she's wearing anything that doesn't show me leg skin at least one half of an inch above her knee, we'll get Wilson to tell her we had to cancel the interview. Actually, we've got about an hour, why don't you just go ahead and call to cancel now. No sense wasting the poor woman's time".

Wilson's head fell forward, while his hands grabbed the side of his neck as if in pain. "You're going to see both of these remaining candidates today if I have to pay you myself to do it. You need a replacement for Cameron, House. Especially since you've promised Chase his job will be here whenever he's ready. Unless you're going to work all day and night, you better put your team back together".

"Fine, but I'm not going to hire her".

"Why? Because she's not Cameron? Foreman asked.

"No," said Wilson, abruptly as he stared at House's hands busily working the Gameboy keys. "It's because of her last name, isn't it?"

The small electronic game whistled and beeped, signaling the game had been lost. "I can't very well call someone _Bertram_," House said, tossing the game dismissively onto his desk. "And, if I can't call her by her last name, I'd have to call her Janice…and I don't do first names well. Especially ones called Janice".

Foreman shook his head in disbelief. "So, you're dismissing all of her skills and qualifications based solely on her name?"

"I know," House scoffed, "I'm an enigma".

"Not exactly the word I had in mind…where are you going?"

"To see our patient," House shot back, as he pushed his way through the tall glass door.

"We don't have a patient," Foreman yelled back as the door swung closed.

"Forget it," Wilson said, as he picked up Janice Bertram's file and dialed her pager number into the phone on House's desk. "We'll just see if we can bump up Dr. Peng from this afternoon.

Foreman sighed quietly under his breath as he rose from his chair to make his way towards the door to the conference room. "Great. I'll go Google how to apologize in Mandarin".

Wilson shook his head and smiled as he picked up the ringing phone. "James Wilson. Yes, hi Dr. Bertram. Thank you so much for calling back. I'm afraid we're going to have to postpone your interview with Dr. House…"


	21. Chapter 21

Sebastian Charles surveyed the largest room of the old building, imagining the way it would look with several dozen people filling up the space between its walls as well as several dozen more waiting on the walkway to come inside. As satisfying as the TB clinic with the hospital proposed to be, he found he had become increasingly restless over the last week. He was surprised at how quickly he missed being in several different places in one week, always racing from one village to the next, while keeping one step ahead of the local militia and thugs.

He watched her as she managed the tedious task of opening boxes of medical supplies and moving the contents to rolling carts and bins. He tried to recall the last time someone had meant so much to him; touched him in a way that she had. She truly seemed to care about him for himself, not the public image so many thought was the real him. He smiled as the thought raced across his brain that she was the one thing that had glued his soul in one place for longer than it had ever been in years.

Without looking up or stopping from her work, Cameron softly snickered under her breath. "Let me guess…this is how you got the smart girls to do your homework for you in school, right? Charm them with that big smile and those boyishly good looks and then sit back while they treated you like a rock star?"

Sebastian stuffed his hands into his trouser pockets as he slowly began to walk towards her. "Why, Dr. Cameron, are you saying I coasted through med school by applying myself in other ways besides diligent study and hard work?"

Cameron blushed as she pushed a long strand of chestnut-colored hair behind her right ear. She casually tossed an empty box off to the side and then pushed herself back to rest against the wall behind her. "Hmm…yes, that's exactly what I think I'm saying".

He laughed as he broke down the box she had just cast aside. "Well, I hate to disappoint you, but nothing could be further from the truth. It seems I wasn't very…socially versed in school".

"Please don't tell me you were the science geek with big black glasses and the pocket protector".

Sebastian frowned dramatically. "We prefer science _nerd_, you know. Sounds a little less pathetic, doesn't it? And, yes I believe I had one of those fashion accessories you mentioned, but I'd rather not say which".

"Only just one, huh?" she giggled.

"O-kay. Now I remember why I don't like school reunions. Come on. Let's get out of here. There's nothing left to do until Monday, anyway".

She accepted his hand as he helped to lift her back onto her feet. "That sounds good to me. I could really go for a hot shower and giant cup of coffee".

"Well now, it just so happens that someone told me about a place that serves the biggest cup of coffee in Princeton. Let me take you…and then if you have any room left, maybe you'll let me buy you dinner, too?"

Cameron looked down at her hand which still rested in his. "Dinner tonight and the cocktail party Saturday night? A girl could get spoiled by this," she laughed. "I still need that shower though. How about you give me two hours and I'll meet you there?"

"Mmm…I'll pick you up. Say 6:30-ish?"

"Okay. Oh, but…I probably should check back in with House and Foreman before I just take off. They had interviews and clinic duty today, so there's no telling how that went or if everyone survived".

Sebastian frowned at her continued loyalty to House. "The man doesn't need a babysitter, Allison—he needs someone to show him there are consequences to his actions".

"He does—he has Cuddy," she said, smiling weakly. "Hey, how about if I call you when I get home?"

"Sure," he said, as his eyes searched over her face for clues to what she'd left unspoken. "Take your time. You know how to reach me".

He smiled as she placed a small kiss lightly on his cheek and let go of his hand. As he watched her walk away, back towards the hospital, he realized he had unfinished business—not with House, but with Lisa Cuddy.

The tension in House's office was palpable. Foreman's voice bristled with fatigue and anger. "Are you asking me or telling me, House? If you're asking me, which I distinctly heard you do five seconds ago, my answer is Peng".

Wilson, looking unusually more than tired than annoyed, rubbed his eyes to try and clear the redness from them. "You did ask for his opinion, House. Not that you asked for mine, but I'm with Eric, I think Peng would make a great addition to the team. Hire him. I take it there are no objections to his name, are there?"

The red and gray ball spun in the palm of House's hand. "Nope, no objections to his name. In fact, I'm almost giddy over the thought of just how much I'll be able to get away with. He's nice, he's smart and he's a bigger minority moving target than Foreman".

Foreman threw up his hands in excitement. "My God. You mean we might just have a consensus? When can we get him to start?"

House quickly attempted to kill Foreman's enthusiasm. "I'm saying he goes on the short-list. Cameron said there were several other candidates in the pipeline. Let's see who takes the bait. We've got a little time, plus interviews will get us out of that asinine TB clinic duty next week," House quipped, as he palmed the ball into the desktop.

Wilson rose from his seat and slipped his lab coat back on over his still neatly pressed dress shirt. "No, you're actually out of time, House. You've got a week, at best. And, unless you've got interviews set up for tomorrow or this weekend, you've got less than that. If you think he'll work for you and take your shit all day, offer him the job. Don't wait…there can't be that many of them to go around. See you tomorrow, guys".

"Well?" Foreman asked impatiently, as the glass door swung shut behind Wilson. "Can I call Cuddy and ask her to pull his credentials?"

House tapped his fingers along the edge of the desk. "Fine," he said, in somewhat of a defeated tone. Ask her to make sure his licensure and references are in order. But, we see whatever others Cameron may have set aside before we commit".

Foreman nodded happily. "I'll go call Cuddy".

House briefly flipped through Dr. Peng's file before tossing it onto the messy side of his desk.

"Well, that can't be good," she said, breaking the silence and mood of the darkened office. "I was hoping I'd find at least one of their files on my chair with a big smiley- face sticky note on it," Cameron said, sarcastically from her place in the doorway. "You guys didn't like any of them?"

"Hmm…let's see. I tormented the first one, didn't see the second and I just can't stop feeling all warm and fuzzy about the third one. I was just about to order him a "welcome to the office" cookie bouquet if you're interested in chipping in".

Cameron smiled. "If any of that were actually true, I would personally bake him cookies myself. Wait…_you_ know what a cookie bouquet is?"

"The hot and completely inappropriately underage babe at the mall told me all about them when I ordered yours for your going away party. Yeah, Peng will do, I suppose. Foreman and Wilson liked him".

House's eyes locked onto Cameron's. "So, you're speaking to me? No longer repulsed by my presence, Dr. Cameron? You've got to stop hanging around with that clown Charles, he's making you soft".

Leaning against the wall, Cameron crossed her right ankle over her left as her hands defensively found their way into the pockets of her slacks. "So, what about you? Did you like Peng?" she asked, changing the subject.

House smiled at her ability to steer the conversation back to being about him. "He's fine. If he shows up just one day out of the five, he'll at least be 100 percent more effective than Chase, anyway".

"Well, there's two more lined up for Monday, unless you want to see them tomorrow or over the weekend. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to move their schedules around. Just say the word and I'll give them a call".

"No. Monday's fine," he said, awkwardly. "You should get out of here, I'm sure you probably worked your ass off for Saint Charles today. What'd he have you doing…polishing his awards? Arranging his press conference? Sending in his People's Choice nomination?"

Cameron laughed softly. "Sorry to disappoint you, but it was nothing more than just good old fashion hard work. It was fine...dirty, but fine".

"Good Lord, should I tell Cuddy she needs to chaperone over there?"

Cameron blushed. "Not dirty, like that dirty…oh, never mind. I'm too tired to do this; I'm going to head out of here. Oh, by the way, I won't be in tomorrow until lunchtime, so just in case you need anything, page me".

House let out a slow whistle. "Lunchtime, huh? I guess dating the celebrity doctor really does have its privileges".

Cameron frowned dramatically. "I'm not dating him. We're just…friends. In a week he'll be back in Africa and I'll be…well, somewhere. Anyway, I'm glad things went well today".

House watched her as her hands left her pockets only to quickly become tucked under each arm. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yep. Another day to save the world," he said, brashly.

Cameron smiled softly. "Have a good night, House".

House reached across his desk for Dr. Peng's file and studied it for a moment before he carried it to Cameron's desk in the adjoining room. Over top of Cameron's handwriting on the yellow sticky note, he drew a large smiley face and then dropped the file in her chair.


	22. Chapter 22

This was not going to be her lucky day. Not that she believed in fate or gave too much credence to bad luck, but if she did, she would have known that today the odds were definitely stacked against her. Ten minutes before walking out the door, she spilled dangerously hot coffee down the front of her only remaining clean work blouse. Then two feet before reaching her car, she twisted her right ankle when the right toe of her fabulous, albeit dangerously new high heel shoes, caught itself on the edge of the sidewalk.

The only thing this day had going for it, she thought as she pulled into the hospital parking garage, was that it was almost twelve noon and it was Friday. Otherwise, she would have been tempted to pack in the whole thing in and turn the car back towards home.

Cameron had just started to make her way across the lobby towards the large entrance doors when she heard her name called out. She hesitated for a moment before turning towards the clinic and the sound of Lisa Cuddy's pleasant, but authoritative voice. The lobby was unusually loud and heavy with traffic, but the clickity-clack sound of Dr. Cuddy's heels on the smooth floor still resonated through the atrium-like area.

She dropped her bag down by the base of the reception desk as she waited for Dr. Cuddy to reach her. She gazed at Cuddy's figure as she walked closer to her.

Lisa Cuddy, she thought, was never anything but immaculate in her appearance. Her deeply hued dark hair and olive skin tone was strikingly set off by the rich eggplant purple color of her perfectly tailored designer suit.

Self-consciously, Cameron reached up to tuck behind her ear a section of hair that had slipped the bonds of the clip holding her hair together.

Cuddy seemed slightly annoyed and rushed as she spoke. "Dr. Cameron, perfect timing. Do you have a moment?"

Cameron fidgeted slightly with her blouse, trying to smooth out the creases and hide the coffee stain. "I was just about to meet Dr. Charles upstairs".

Cuddy dismissed Cameron's plans with a wave of her hand. "Well, don't. We've got a bit of a crisis in the clinic. Dr. Wilson has had a family emergency and had to leave, and Foreman and House are a bit swamped at the moment. It seems there's a stomach virus going on around town, so we've got a full house in there".

Cameron nodded slightly as her eyes looked past Cuddy and towards the waiting room of the clinic behind her. "Is Dr. Wilson alright?"

"He's fine. Apparently his soon to be ex-father in-law had a stroke last night, so he's gone up to Morristown to be with his wife's family". Cameron pursed her lips together as the corners of her mouth turned down sympathetically. She had gathered things were quite strained between him and his wife, but Wilson wasn't the type of person to let that get in the way of something like this.

"If you've already taken your lunch," she said impatiently, as she turned her wrist over to look at her watch, I'm sure they could use your help now". "I'll page Sebastian and let him know there's been a change in your schedule. Oh, and thanks".

Cameron silently stood by the reception desk for a moment as people moved past her on their way to unknown destinations within the hospital. For a moment, she thought of ducking into the Ladies Room to straighten her appearance, but dismissed the thought quickly. As she walked towards the clinic, she felt a tinge of trepidation but also the queerest sense of happiness as well.

"I need a vacation," she said aloud to herself, as she pushed open the doors to the clinic and signed herself in.

Across the counter, Foreman scribbled the last few notes in the patient file and illegibly signed his name before handing it over to the nurse behind the desk. He smiled at her as if she would be pleased at his speed in seeing the last patient, but her lack of interest was only slightly more evident than her sour disposition. She unceremoniously grabbed the completed file from his hand as she shoved a new one in it.

A familiar voice drifted by him, cutting in to Foreman's displeasure and foul mood. "You can stop mentally cursing me, I heard you all the way across town and I've got the scars to prove it". Foreman turned quickly from the desk to see Cameron standing behind him, arms crossed over her chest with a mocking grin on her face.

"Allison, you've got one minute to make a break for it before we put you to work in here. And, don't even let House see you. He's beyond being pissed off today".

"Well, today is your lucky day," she said lightly, grabbing the next patient folder in the queue.

"Are you serious? Wait, what are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be with Dr. Charles?"

Cameron smiled at the combined look of confusion and displeasure that had taken over Foreman's face. "Cuddy said you all were swamped down here and she pulled me back in to help. So, now that I'm here, why don't you go grab some lunch? House will be ticked, but I can handle him until you get back".

Foreman laughed awkwardly under his breath. "I'm good, for the moment. But, House… is in rare form today. I've had to send the nurses in every fifteen minutes to make sure he's actually seeing people and not sleeping instead. I don't know what's worse, having kids puke all day on my shoes or babysitting House".

The nurse behind the counter tapped her pen loudly on the desk. "The woman in exam room 3 has thrown up twice and has asked how much longer you'd be, Dr. Foreman," she said, curtly. Cameron smiled and turned towards exam room 2, wishing she had chosen another pair of shoes instead of the new ones she wore today.

She softly knocked twice on the door as she quickly studied the chart before her. "Hi, Ms. Williams, I'm Dr. Cameron-- so what brings you in today?" she asked, raising her gaze from the patient file.

"I think my diaphragm needs to be refitted".

Cameron dropped the file to her side as she instinctively raised her free hand to her hip. "House, what are you doing?" she belted out, in her most perfected annoyed tone.

"Comfortable?" she asked, as she swatted his crossed legs out of one of the gynecological stirrup on the exam table. "Foreman said you'd probably be sleeping, but kicking back with a magazine sounds more your speed. And, just for shits and giggles, what did you do with Ms. Williams?" she asked, waving the mystery patient's file in front of his face.

"Well, I _was_ comfortable until you blew my cover. What are you doing back here, anyway? Did Dr. Do-good get a pimple today and cancel all his appearances?"

"No. Cuddy said you needed help. So…Ms.Williams, House? Where'd you put her?"

"Diagnosed and discharged! I figured it would take Foreman at least half an hour to get in here to her, plenty of time to get caught up on Britney and Kevin," he quipped, as he pointed to the vapid looking couple on the magazine cover.

Cameron sighed impatiently. "House, there's a waiting room full of sick adults and puking children. Don't you think Britney can wait?"

House leaned over the exam table and threw the tabloid into the trash. "Killjoy. So, did you actually volunteer to help out in this hell hole or did Cuddy draft you?"

"I told you. Cuddy said you needed help," she said, as she watched his face contort with disbelief. "I still work here, you know".

"At least for a few more days, anyway," House smirked deviously, plucking the patient file out of her hand as he brushed by her.

"Wow. Way to make me feel the love," she mumbled under her breath, as she followed him out of the exam room, shutting the door behind her.


	23. Chapter 23

By the end of the day, Cameron's feet begged for mercy in the constraints of their Italian leather torture devices. She shifted her weight from leg to leg, trying to give each foot a second or two of relief as she signed the last patient chart.

She glanced up at the clock as she handed her file to the nurse. "It's six o'clock and that was my last one, so I'm officially out of here. Are the other doctors gone?"

"Dr. Foreman got paged to a Neurology consult in the ER and Dr. House just left a few minutes ago".

Cameron gave her a quick smile before turning for the door. "Great. Ok, well good-night, then".

"Dr. Cameron?" the nurse said, softly. "Dr. House said that this was your last scheduled clinic duty. I was sorry to hear that you're leaving…actually, all the nurses here are. Best of luck, okay?"

Her kindness threw Cameron slightly off guard. The nurses always seemed infinitely more hospitable once the shift was over but none had ever struck up a conversation with her. "Thanks," she said, as she pushed the door open, "I really appreciate that. Have a good night".

She longed to go home and get out of her killer shoes and into a hot bath, but somehow her feet wouldn't move her past the reception desk in the lobby. With no case in Diagnostics, there was no reason to go upstairs to check on things. Foreman was in ER and House had presumably gone home.

"I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure leaving actually involves walking through the doors, not staring at them".

Cameron turned her head towards House's familiar voice. "I'm leaving. I was just…"

House seemed to take pleasure in her loss for words. "Right. Well, Cuddy's on the warpath, so you better get out of here while you can. She's a couple of docs short in the ER tonight...something about a rampant stomach bug. I guess Foreman will be pissed once he finds out I was the one that paged him to the ER. Lucky for me I know all the secret exits".

"I don't think leaving through the largest door in the hospital will get you credit for giving Cuddy and Foreman the slip. What are you still doing here, anyway? The nurses in the clinic told me you'd gone home a while ago".

"Nope. All part of my mystique, though," he said, eyeing her intently. "So…how'd you get to work?"

"What? I drove. How do I get to work everyday?"

A small grin began to make its way across his face. "Well, normal days, sure. But these days with Dr. McDreamy, who knows how".

Cameron could not hold back the impulse to roll her eyes in frustration. "I drove," she repeated defiantly, as she stepped on the rubber pad, causing the front doors to magically swish open.

"Great! Let's drive over to Kelly's".

Cameron stopped in her tracks as if to better comprehend his request.

"That's a bar".

"Very true".

"On the other side of town".

"Also very true. I don't drink and ride…that would just be reckless".

Cameron didn't flinch. "Last time I checked, the taxi's still run in this town".

"Do you have any idea how much fare is from Kelly's to my house?"

"Right, what _was_ I thinking?" she scoffed, as she limped behind him. "Wait!" she bellowed. "I've got to take these off".

The sudden announcement of some possible form of clothing about to be surrendered caused House to turn and walk quickly back towards her.

"What are you doing?" he asked, as she placed one hand on his shoulder to steady herself while she struggled to slip off a shoe.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she winced, "I'm taking off my shoes".

"Why?"

Cameron shifted her balance as she raised her other hand to his shoulder, slipping off the other shoe. "Because they hurt and I can't walk another step in them".

"Oh, God!," she moaned, as she stretched her feet out flat on the sidewalk. "Oh, that feels so good !"

"Jeez, what is it with you women and shoes?" he asked nervously, as he struggled to think of something else besides the sound of Cameron moaning. "Why would you voluntarily shop for and then buy something that causes irreversible damage to your body and then strap it on each foot for eight hours each day?"

Cameron sighed as she waited for his rant to end. "It's all part of our master plan to become dominant over the male species," she said, sarcastically.

"So this is your great plan…to hobble 20 yards barefooted across a parking lot teeming with bacteria and debris? Just exactly what kind of man are you looking to conquer, anyway?"

"Look, the way I see this playing out is that we can either trade shoes and _you_ can wear these," she said, dangling the pair of offensive shoes in front of his face, "or I go barefoot while you just replay the sound of my euphoric moaning over and over in your head as we press on".

House cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Ok, pressing on it is," he said, as he quickly turned back towards the parking garage.

Cameron smiled as she stared at House's back. "Yep, pressing on," she said softly, under her breath.

Kelly's looked exactly the same as it did the last time she'd been there almost two years ago with Foreman and Chase. It was smoky and gritty but the food was incredible.

Cameron quickly scanned the crowded bar for someplace to sit. "There aren't two seats together at the bar, but there's a booth over there by the jukebox".

The mere mention of something other than a barstool made House's eyes roll back. "I don't do booths".

"Fine," Cameron frowned. "You go sit at the bar and I'll sit in the booth. What'll be your signal that you're ready to go, falling off the barstool or doing a nose-dive into the pretzel dish?" She didn't wait for his response, but quickly turned instead to make her way towards the booth.

An older waitress with just a hint of having once been a strikingly lovely woman brushed past them. "Well, hey there doc! Where's Dr. Jimmy tonight?"

Cameron laughed under her breath at the thought of how Wilson came to be known as "Dr. Jimmy" at a place like this.

"Don't tell me this pretty thing is with you?" the woman asked bluntly, as House squirmed. "Not that we don't love Dr. Jimmy, but it's about time!" she cackled.

Cameron could feel herself blush at the woman's comment, but luckily didn't think House would notice as dark as it was in the bar.

"I've got a booth back there, sweetie," she pointed with her free hand, while she handed Cameron two menus with the other. "I'll be over in just a second to wipe the table down," she rattled off quickly, before walking away.

House waited for Cameron to pick a side and slide in first. He hung his cane up on the coat hook on the outside of the booth and then slid in, opposite her. They sat silently, each staring at some imaginary spot of interest somewhere beyond the small booth, until the waitress returned.

"The usual, doc?" she asked, as she wiped the table with a less than clean-looking rag. "And, what can I get you, sweetie?" she asked, turning to Cameron, "please tell me you're gonna eat something. You look like you're just gonna blow away".

House pushed his menu off to the side of the table. "She doesn't eat; she's got an issue with fat people. She'll just have water and maybe a slice of lemon if she's feeling very, very decadent".

Cameron's gaze burned into his. "I'll have a draught beer and a Cheese Steak-- easy on the onions, an order of steak fries and a small side salad; house dressing is fine," she fired off, before gently tossing her menu on top of the one House had discarded.

The waitress had the same look on her face that Cameron's mother always did when she managed to get Cameron to take a second helping at Thanksgiving dinner.

"Wow. Think that's wise…what with the big party tomorrow night and all?" House smirked.

Cameron tossed her purse into the corner of the seat in the booth as she leaned back to stare at him defiantly.

"My dress fits quite nicely, thank you".

House sized her up from his vantage point across the table. "Great. It's just that I don't think you'll find the toilets here up to your standards if you're thinking of getting rid of all of that before we leave".

Cameron looked shocked. "You…you think I'm bulimic?"

"What I think, is that on any given day of the week, my pastrami sandwich from the best deli in Princeton has more fat on it that you do".

"I'm not bulimic".

"Don't get defensive. It's a disease, you know, totally curable".

"Is it? And here I thought you didn't know anything about psychologically-based addictions," she lobbed back.

The truthfulness of her words finally pierced his tough façade. He turned away from her, looking over towards the bar as his fingers rapped out an unknown beat on the tabletop.

"So…how'd you hear about the party, anyway?" she asked, as she tried valiantly to salvage what was left of the conversation. "Oh, what am I saying? I'm sure Cuddy must have mentioned it, right? Are you two… planning on going?"

House slowly turned his attention back to her. "Actually, it was Foreman. He seems to think he'll be able to make a lot of good contacts there. Boy, is he misguided".

Cameron laughed softly as she fidgeted with the beer just placed before her. "So, why am I here, House? Did you just need a fill-in for Wilson while he's away or is this my good-bye party?"

"Oh, please don't pick me apart," he winced. "I told you, I don't drink and ride. Just eat your damn salad and enjoy the …ambiance".

Cameron had just started to blurt out a response when her pager began to vibrate. She quickly reached down to her waist to free the small device from its holder clipped to her belt.

"Everything okay?" House asked, between taking large swigs off his beer.

Suddenly Cameron felt very torn between her obligation to return the page and House's company. "Um…yes. I'm going to just step outside a minute to get this. I'm sorry…please, don't wait on me if the food comes before I get back".

Cameron grabbed her phone out of her purse and carefully navigated her way through the crowded bar to the door. She quickly pushed the familiar numbers as she stepped outside. "Hey, it's Cam…Allison. Is everything alright?"

On the other end of the line, Sebastian's voice sounded somewhat concerned. "Well, I was just going to ask you that. I tried getting a hold of you down at the clinic but they said you'd left over an hour ago. I thought you were going to page me when you got done today".

"Oh, God, Sebastian I'm so sorry. I left around 6:30 and decided to head home, because my feet hurt so badly, when I ran into House," she tried to explain. "It's a long story, but paging you completely slipped my mind".

"Allison, its fine. So, you're at home? Sorry. I'm not trying to check up on you, I just thought I could bring over pizza from Tony's and some cheesecake from that bakery just down the street from you. Have you eaten?"

Cameron nervously picked at the mortar on the brick wall by where she stood. "I'm not at home, actually. I'm…House sort of asked me out for a drink as I was leaving work. We're at a little place called Kelly's, near downtown. Why don't you join us, let me give you directions".

"No, Allison…really, thanks though. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I can wait until I see you tomorrow. You call me if you need a ride home, okay?"

Cameron shut her eyes tightly to the kindness in Sebastian's voice and the guilt in her own. "Thanks, but I'm the designated driver, so it'll just be the one beer with dinner. May I call you when I get home?"

"Well, I'll be here! And Allison…have a good time, alright? I'll talk to you later, then?"

"Yeah…yeah, I'll call you in a little while".

Cameron felt almost blind as she walked back into the darkened bar. House stood as she slid back into the seat of the booth.

"Slide," he said, bluntly.

Cameron wasn't sure if she heard him correctly. "Excuse me?"

"Slide over. Come on, come on" he motioned impatiently. "You're small, there's plenty of room".

"O-kay. Was there something wrong with your side of the booth?" she asked, skeptically.

"Can't see the race from there," he said, staring up at the small tv screen as he moved his food and beer from the other side of the table. "Keeps you on a short leash, doesn't he?"

Cameron stabbed at her salad with her fork. "I said I would call him when I got off tonight and I forgot. He was concerned".

"What is it they say about lying so early in a relationship? Ah, I can't remember. Can't be good though".

"I didn't lie," she shot back quickly. "Not that it matters, but I told you…we're not involved. Quit instigating".

"I merely observe," he said, snitching several fries off of her plate.

"True," she sighed, as she watched him pilfer several more of her fries before following his attention to the tv screen. "What in God's name are we watching, anyway?

"NASCAR" he said, his mouth stuffed with stolen fries.

"So, by definition what is that? Speed, noise and a gratuitous waste of resources?"

"And those hot NASCAR babes for the winner," he said, pointing to the bevy of scantily-clad blonde beauties that just popped up on the screen. "Hey look, I think that one has on your shoes".

"See," she said, as she placed half of her sandwich on his plate, "I know what I'm talking about. It's all part of the master plan".

"Yeah" he said softly, as he studied her face, "looks that way".


End file.
